Were you aware that Groves is having a winter formal this January? A group of seniors in Groves Student Congress have been hard at work crafting up a fun night of dancing, playing games and getting into the winter spirit. If you had a good time at homecoming, the winter dance is going to be very similar, welcoming students of all grades. When asked, many Groves students expressed their enthusiasm about the possibility of this new school tradition.
Six GSC seniors, including Priya Andra, made the decision to plan the winter dance this year as their “passion project” (a required group project which benefits the community) for GSC.
“Current students at Groves have never experienced a winter formal in their time at Groves and in the past when Groves did host a winter formal, the student body did not take much liking to it, it was kind of a bust, and people didn’t really like it. We’re just trying to revive it, and as the senior class we’re trying to bring back some tradition that used to exist,” Andra said. She expressed that in Groves’ past, the student congress didn’t do the best job coordinating a dance, which explains the reason for other schools having winter dances, but not us.
The dance is currently set for the night of January 20, and is predicted to be fairly similar to homecoming, aside from it taking place in the school commons instead of the gym.
“We’ll have a movie going, we’ll have board games, we might have video games,” Andra said. “We’re expecting it to be two hours long, like an after dinner six to eight, or seven to nine type thing.”
Since GSC passion projects normally benefit the community, proceeds from winter dance tickets are expected to go towards Groves’ charity of the year, The New Day Foundation.
“The original date for the dance was January 27, sort of in the middle of charity week, so a portion of the money was supposed to go to charity, but because we had to change the dance to a later date, we don’t know if we’re going to fix that by having ticket sales earlier, so we can still make the proceeds go to [The New Day Foundation] or we just do our own charity,” Andra said. If you are on the fence about attending the dance, keep in mind that the money you spend on your ticket will be going towards a good cause.
When a group of students were asked at random in the halls, it was totally unanimous that the Groves student body is in favor of another dance being added to the yearly rotation. One sophomore, Felipe Serrano, expressed that the dance would especially benefit the underclassmen of the school.
“I think we should have one, because there’s no dances for freshmen and sophomores until homecoming the next year,” Serrano said. Being a freshman or sophomore means that you only have one opportunity to attend a school dance per year, which is homecoming. The winter formal could allow the younger students of Groves to have more than one big school event they get to be a part of.
In addition to being inclusive, the dance will also be a great opportunity for students to get dressed up and hang out with their friends! Junior Jenna Rivera described how ready she is for the dance.
“I love any dances because I love getting gussied up … it’s a great idea,” Rivera said. “I would definitely attend, I already have a dress.” Another junior, Antonia Pancoast, told us her opinions about the winter formal as well.
“I think it would be really fun because we haven’t had a winter dance, at least while [juniors] have been at [Groves]. Seeing other schools have them is like a missed opportunity to raise money for the school. I would attend.” Pancoast said.
If you have any plans for January 20, clear your calendar. Spread the news, bring friends or a date, and don’t forget to have fun! It will be a night to remember.
