Biggest winter formal ever?

story by Sydney Shain ≫

This year’s winter formal was one which went down in the books as possibly one of the school’s highest- attended dances ever, according to Mr. Magette, the student council sponsor. Magette used some simple math to calculate attendance based on money raised from admittance fees, and was able to estimate the number of students who attended the dance at approximately 300 students.

“I heard that there were around 300 people,” said Jasmine Thevarajoo, Sr. and senior class president. “But that may not be accurate, I know that this was one of the largest dances we’ve held!”

But what can this increase in success be attributed to? Mr. Magette gave a bit of an explanation based off of what he has observed over the years.

“It seems to have, especially with that winter dance in the five years that I’ve been involved with it, gotten bigger every year,” said Magette. “It’s just following a trend. Somebody mentioned that winter homecoming is kind of like underclassman prom. I think that’s cool, I think that’s what it has turned into.”

Plus, the more students at a dance, the more people there to let loose.

“I think more people participated in the actual dancing instead of just standing,” said Thevarajoo.

Some other activities earlier in the day may have affected attendance as well. Boys’ basketball had a game rescheduled to a time that day before the dance, which is something that doesn’t happen regularly and might have had an effect on students and their mood in general.

“I think the guys winning a really close game in really dramatic fashion helped,” said Magette. “People were ready to celebrate, people who maybe would have just gone home, thought ‘heck, I’ll go to the dance, I felt really good about what happened today’.”

Student Council breaks even for the costs of the dance at around 200 students, so the success of this dance gives the council a cushion for future years.

“We use the money to pay for decorations or fund some of our other projects,” said Thevarajoo. “An example is the Winter Wishes we grant, because of these dances we have funds to give back to the student body.”

Another event that this fundraiser helps support is fall homecoming, and getting that rolling next year will partly be due to high participation in this winter’s homecoming. Mr. Magette feels that winter homecoming is a little bit of a more special experience.

“Fall homecoming feels like more of a celebration of a game and the week,” said Magette, “and winter formal is something more. I think as that has happened over the last few years, students have shown up and they have had a really genuinely good time. At the end of the day, I think that’s what it’s all about, feeling good about your school experience.”