The Student Council will host Winter Formal in the Commons from 8-10:30 p.m. Dec. 8. The event, which used to be an annual tradition before the pandemic, will include dancing, refreshments and drinks.
Student Council advisor Tony Bracht said, in the past, there have been many dances and formals hosted for high school students.
“Depending on the year, the school has always endowed dances,” Bracht said. “In the 2010s, these dances became normalized, but oftentimes they would have freshman, sophomore dances at the same time as prom in the spring.”
Bracht said due to the pandemic, the Student Council has been unable to organize such large social events.
Student Council President Marcus Chae (’24) said the council decided to host the Winter Formal to replace grade-level dances that did not have high attendance.
“We have had sophomore dances in the wintertime,” Chae said. “Due to a couple of unsuccessful ones, we decided we wanted to bring back the Winter Formal.”
Furthermore, Winter Formal Organization Council member Ashlyn Tate (’26) said the Council’s goal is to rebuild the custom for the future.
“It hasn’t taken place since COVID and so we just kind of decided to bring this tradition back,” Tate said.
Bracht said since the Winter Formal is not a set tradition, he hopes to build it into the spirit of the community.
“There have been winter dances, but I wouldn’t say it’s as much of an engraved tradition as Bangers and Bash or the Halloween Assembly or Spirit Week,” Bracht said. “There have been other versions of dances and I’m excited to see what will happen with this.”
Naiya Jesani (’27) said she is looking forward to the event because this will be her first High School student council event.
“I think it’s going to be really fun” Jesani said. “I’m really excited to bond with my peers.”
Chae said the Student Council had organized this time in the calendar ahead of time initially not knowing what the event was going to be and has spent the last month planning to make it as successful as possible.
“As far as passion projects go, I think for this one we have really been on top of organization,” Chae said. “For the past couple weeks, we were meeting a couple times a week. We really want it to be an amazing event so we’re really trying to go all out and have all the loose ends cut off.”
Furthermore, Bracht said part of the event preparation includes promotion, which was characterized by posters and the advertisement on the council’s Instagram.
Bracht said he wishes students can utilize this event to bond because the High School does not often have events involving all four grades.
“My biggest hope is that students recognize a way to have fun with each other in a non-transactional way,” Bracht said. “School can be so busy and everyone is involved in so many formal activities like sports and music and clubs. To get a full [Grade] 9 to 12 event and people committing to attend is really exciting.”
Jesani, who plans on attending the formal, said she anticipates the Student Council will execute the event well.
“The expectations are probably quite high because I know in American high schools there is a big thing about prom and Homecoming,” Jesani said. “This will be kind of ASL’s version of it.”
Overall, Chae said he is excited to see the turnout of the event and hopes it will give students a break from school and extracurricular activities.
“Hearing people talk about it in the hallways since we announced it, I think we are going to get 300 to 450 kids, which is amazing for a Student Council event and just amazing for a high school event,” Chae said. “It’s amazing for the school environment as a whole and it seems to be doing its job in bringing a break from student life, which everyone needs at the end of semester one.”
