By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

About 50 Westlake High School students in the school library rise from their seats on the carpet to stand and sing along with the musicians and teachers leading them in Bob Dylan’s “Romance in Durango.”
They read from printed song sheets, and as the chorus approaches, everyone in the room simultaneously raises an arm and snaps, snaps, snaps along with the lyric, “Soon will be dancing the Fandango.”
This is Dylan Day at WHS, an annual gathering of students to sing Bob Dylan songs that began some time in the mid-1980s.
Dylan Day began in the classroom of Bill Martin, an English teacher at WHS.
Martin’s students proposed the idea of listening to Dylan records during class, and Martin agreed as long as the class sang along with the music.
Students in other classes began to realize what was going on in Martin’s class, and the second year, more than 100 people crammed into Martin’s classroom.
“So the administration realized something was happening,” Martin says.
Dylan Day has progressed since then, and now students usually gather in the library during their English classes or lunch periods to hear and sing Dylan songs.
The day is an opportunity to emphasize the importance of being with others and focus on community, Martin says.
“It’s a different kind of community,” he says. “It’s like a guerrilla activity almost.”
Although students and teachers play songs, the day is not a talent show, but a chance to experience music communally.
Jane Craig, a government teacher who belted out “It Ain’t Me, Babe” during the event, says students have played a variety of instruments during Dylan Day performances, including violins, oboes and keyboards, but electric guitars are prohibited.
Carolyn Foote, the lead librarian for the Eanes school district, said the library is similar to a campfire environment for the students during Dylan Day, and the school made sure the furniture in the library could be rolled away to make room for this day.
Although Dylan is considered a modern poet, Martin says the main reason he chose him for this day is because of his large and varied catalogue.
Musicians also have more freedom when they play his songs.
“Dylan never sings it twice the same,” Martin says.
Some students even come back to WHS after graduating to play during Dylan Day.
“It’s something that the kids do remember,” Martin says.