On Friday, December 15, the Brentwood Green Machine had their annual awards ceremony and holiday dance. The awards ceremony, which was first, started at 6 p.m. Every member of the Green Machine received a participation award. Then, awards were given to the best Freshman, best Sophomore, and best Junior members. Seniors did not receive any specialty awards. Next, awards were given to members who had never missed a practice. Finally, a Rookie of the Year award was given to a new member that showed exceptional effort in band. Usually this award is given to freshmen in the band, but this year it was given to a senior who joined the Green Machine earlier this year.

At the end of the ceremony, Mr. Sitler introduced Monica Martinez, the Suffolk County legislator, to give a speech. She was an east side student and explained how proud she is of the accomplishments of the Green Machine. Overall the whole ceremony was very optimistic. Everyone would cheer and clap for their peers every time they announced an award.

After the awards ceremony was over, everyone headed for the Ross cafeterias to enjoy the holiday dance. Students signed in by giving the toys they brought as a donation for Toys for Tots, which provides gifts to less fortunate families and their children around the Christmas time. After they gave in their toy, each student was given a raffle ticket for a surprise at the end of the dance. There was a kicking D.J. that played top hit songs that everyone knew. People danced and enjoyed themselves for an hour before food was served.

The food was made by the parents of Green Machine members. Everything tasted divine. There was every delicious dish you can expect at a school with a large Hispanic population! Many different types of rice, chicken dishes, pastas, pork and ham entrees were served. The kids all loved the food, as they kept going back for more and more. No meal is complete without drinks, so cans of fan favorite sodas were available in coolers.

After everyone had their fill of food, they went back to dancing their hearts off. Songs like Wobble, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Electric slide played and most of the students and parents chaperoning shared the dance floor. Even Ms. Terry Odom, the “Mom” of the Green Machine, got in on the fun.

The dance started winding down around 9 p.m. Some people were leaving, and boy was that a mistake. The raffle tickets handed out at the entrance were for gift cards places like McDonald’s, Regal, Applebee’s, and Starbucks. The Green Machine members were going crazy as individual names were called to receive these prizes!

This event was a well-deserved night for the Green Machine. Good luck to these band members in their competitions next year!