By JT Koch / Spill Editor and Johnathon Shaffer / Sports Editor
NPHS students have an opening on their schedule this winter. Due to poor temperatures and conditions as well as a conflicting sports calendar the Winter Formal dance has been cancelled. The dance is being replaced with a “Spring Fling” in May.
The details of the dance are still mostly undecided. But NPHS students can look forward to a few things in a spring dance. Dodging winter weather and a booked sporting calendar allows more students to attend the dance.
“So just looking at the calendar, it’s kind of like, okay, well, we have all this time after prom. Because prom’s like April 11 this year, so it’s really early. So that was kind of the thought. Also, last year, winter formal wasn’t as well attended as the fall homecoming,” culinary teacher and student council sponsor Ashley Ralph said.
Among the reasons why the winter formal was canceled this year, attendance was also an issue. Paying for the DJ, decorations, and snacks cost more than the dance was pulling in as ticket sales.
“I think fall homecoming had like 600 or 630 tickets sold. Winter Formal was like 300 and something, which that’s hard because when you budget and you have to pay for the decorations and the DJ and all that kind of stuff, you’re trying not to lose money. And last year we did,” Ralph said.
The spring fling as an idea to save students money while also being more enjoyable and accessible is what Ralph is hoping for.
“I mean if it’s in the spring and it’s warmer, people might not have to go out and buy anything because in homecoming in the fall, when it’s still pretty warm, they go out and they buy those fall homecoming dresses. In the winter because it’s so cold. Everyone tried to buy longer dresses and things like that, which is getting into that “prominess.” So I think people (student council) thought we could wear dresses that we already had. So you can really wear Easter dresses and things like that. So I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s the first time for everything.”
