Winter Formal, the second school dance of the year did not disappoint. This year’s winter formal was hosted at The ARTIC Train Station in Anaheim, a new location for SJHHS.
A lot goes into planning for winter formal from ASB and the students themselves. Planning the dance and picking the location is something that has to be done months to years in advance.
“What was exciting about this year’s winter formal and what made it different was the location. Arctic Train Station is a new venue. They just started holding events like high school dances last year. We were the first school in our district to use this venue which made it pretty special,” said ASB activities director Brooke Valderrama.
Due to SJHHS’ vast number of students, it makes it harder to pick locations and as a result, it makes it difficult to find a location for the dances.
“We try to find locations that can accommodate our size, we aren’t too far away, and have a fun atmosphere. We also went to space out our venues so that we do not go to the same place in a 3-4 year span for winter formal since all grades can attend and a 2-3 year span for prom which is mostly juniors and seniors,” said Valderrama.
For planning purposes, they start two months in advance; deciding on a theme, when to advertise ticket sales, and all the promotion and details to make it a fun and unique event.
Homecoming ASB picks the theme in the summer before school starts. For winter formal and prom, ASB pickles 2-3 themes, and then the students take a vote.
“I would say the most contentious part of planning the dance is choosing the theme. Sometimes there are very strong opinions especially when there is a pep rally, for homecoming, a lso halftime show to prepare for. As an ASB, once the theme is chosen, whether it is what you wanted or not, we are all 100% in so that we can plan a great event for the students,” said Valderrama.
To make an event as fun as possible, ASB puts time and effort into making the week leading up to the dance as spirit-filled as possible. Spirit days leading up the the dance allow everyone to participate and get ready for the dance. This year the spirit days were all Tangeled related to match the theme.
“The biggest part of planning dances is the pep rally. The pep rally is the biggest part that ASB has to do for winter formal because it is an off-school venue so we don’t have to decorate or set up the venue ourselves,” said senior class vice president Natalie Chapman.
The pep rallies bring the school together to compete in games and skits to get everyone excited for the dance that takes place the following day.
“A lot of work goes into the pep rally, our pep commissioners Kate and Drew work really hard to make it happen. Our tech team makes the winter sports video weeks prior and our publicity team makes all the posters by hand. We have auditions for hosts and get the costumes,” said Chapman.
The efforts of ASB do not go unnoticed with the San Juan Hills school dances being such a hit and a fun event students look forward to.
