Last year, the majority of the junior class skipped Holiday Ball, and this year’s junior class represented an underwhelming two tables. Because of the low attendance at last year’s Holiday Ball, the student council worked to create a new and improved version of the dance, with dress-up themes for each grade. With sophomores dressing in a western theme, juniors as the 70s and 80s, and seniors as dynamic duos, this dance was supposed to be referred to as “Holiday Ball 2.0.” 

Despite the effort from the student council, this year’s dance attendance remained low––only 189 students signing up this year and 250 are needed to break even. 

The introduction of themes didn’t seem to be the main problem, though. The dress-ups were either a hit or miss for the students, depending on what their theme was. “I like dresses better than dressing up in costumes. The dynamic duos seemed fun, I feel like it would have been fun if everyone dressed as dynamic duos—that was definitely the best theme. I want to keep that theme for my grade next year,” junior Piper Ehlen said. 

Some students skipped the dance because of a bad first Holiday Ball experience. “Although I did go to the dance, I think that people didn’t have very much fun last year because the lights were on and the DJ was bad, so they didn’t want to repeat the same experience,” junior Alli Voss said. 

Despite the small number of juniors at the dance this year, the students seem to want to come back for one last hoorah for their senior year. “I didn’t go to the dance because I didn’t have a lot of fun the year before, so I just hung out with my other friends. I think I’ll give it another try next year because it will be my last chance,” junior Abby Hancock said. 

Many sophomores did enjoy their first time at Holiday Ball, so they want to put an end to skipping the dance as juniors. “I think my friends and I would probably go next year. I thought it was fun even though the juniors didn’t go. They probably just didn’t come because the dance was lame when they were sophomores,” sophomore Mary Zavoral said. 

Students have suggested minor changes in regards to the dance to encourage even more students to attend including changing the lighting of the room, shortening the dance, and having a different DJ. “I think [signing up for] tables is something that creates some drama as to why some people don’t go, so it would maybe be different if people could combine tables to be with their friends,” Ehlen said. 

To ensure increased attendance, the student council has talked about heightening the promotion for the dance. “I would say just more promotion and encouragement to go would help to raise attendance. The upperclassmen need to take a role in leadership and promote the dance so that everyone goes,” junior Johan Dominguez-Lopez said. 

Overall, this year’s dance seemed to be well-received, despite the low attendance. “I think Holiday Ball has a negative connotation that makes it seem boring, but I went to the dance, and I had a lot of fun. I’d go again next year,” junior Jonah Mortenson said.