Colette Moffroid | A&E Editor
January 30, 2025
The Winter Formal dance is an exciting break from the repetitive schedules high schoolers experience week after week. While many students may celebrate the festivities surrounding the dance, very few are actually attending the venue. This lack of tickets sold results in a lack of funds for the school, which can over time decrease the opportunities available to us as a public school.
During my freshman year of high school, I did not personally attend the Winter Formal dance. However, I knew many who did. Over my time at San Clemente High School, I have heard of fewer and fewer people planning to attend this event. Most students back up their decision with the fact that they “went freshman year and it wasn’t super fun” so they feel no need to visit a second time, explained junior Margot Lee. Another reason the majority of the student body may be straying further away from this dance is the inconvenience of its location. It is difficult to find a ride to take you up and back from a venue with a thirty-minute drive both ways, especially when you don’t have your license, which about half of the student body does not. In comparison, the homecoming dance took place at the high school, making it much easier to access. This convenience showed up in the heightened attendance and ticket sales of the fall semester dance.
Not only is the dance far away, but the ticket prices have gone severely up. Tickets started at $85 and have only gone up weekly since. Another possible reason for the decrease in attendance is the supervision of school staff and controlled time. Junior Stella Nelson stated she feels a drawback from the dance is the fact that students “are not allowed to leave until they have been there for at least 30 minutes,” making the attendees feel trapped or that they are stuck in a school-like setting on their Saturday night. While these safety precautions are necessary, as it is a dance held by a high school, understandably, these measures can decrease the interest of teenagers who want nothing more than to be in control of their own lives.
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