Instead of walking into a room full of Valentine’s themed decorations, students will now enter a winter wonderland.The annual second semester dance was rebranded from “Sweetheart” to the “Winter Formal.” The decision was made by StuCo last year and put into action this year. The dance occurred on February 7th from 8-10:30pm.

        “We just saw a huge dip in attendance, like, not as many people are attending, probably because it’s more Valentine’s Day theme. So people think,    ‘oh, I need a date.’ So we’re trying to veer away from that,” student body co-president senior Hannah Clark said. 

        Clark also thought the sophisticated feel of the Winter Formal drew more students in,

        “Winter Formal seems fancier too. So, we’re seeing a lot more that people want to have a fancy, like, classy event,” Clark said.        

        Two seniors on the Winter Court will be crowned “Snow King and Queen.” The seniors were unaware of the change at first,

        “Personally, I didn’t even know it was happening till, like, they announced it,” senior Denah Thomas said. 

         Although Thomas Sweetheart, she liked the Winter Formal theme too. She was happy to be nominated by her peers for court,

        “It was really nice. I think it’s really sweet, and I think it’s a cool thing that we get to do, and I’m glad that I get to do it,” Thomas said.

        Candidate Nathanael Lee also supported the change as well,

        “I feel like it’s cool that we’re changing things up around South,” Lee said.

        Students didn’t like feeling the pressure of d getting a date. Now that the change occurred, attendees were relieved, 

        “I think that it’s good because WPA kind of meant that you had to have a date because it’s like, women pay all. It just gives you more flexibility, and it’s more your choice,” sophomore Olivia Buchta said. 

        The student body also disliked dressing to the valentines theme,

        “I like the change, because I think people felt obligated to dress in red or pink, since the theme was like, sweetheart. So now people can just do whatever they want,” sophomore Olivia Woodward said.

        Another senior had the same opinion,

        “I feel like there were a lot of rumors going around last year about how it was supposed to change. And at first I didn’t think it was the best idea,” senior Daisy Ellis said. 

The dance occurred on February 7th from 8-10:30pm.