This winter at Pelham Memorial High School, tradition will be resumed for the first time in over a decade. Since October, the Student Advisory has been discussing the approval of a suggestion to bring back the Winter Formal that used to take place each winter at the high school. Most students on the council voted in favor and were excited by the prospect. It was proposed in order to encourage high spirits in the winter as well as because many other schools have other dances besides prom while we do not.

According to Ms. Rice, the president of the SA, “It was discussed as we reflected on Homecoming this year, what went well and what we would like to improve on. Students discussed the idea that they would like to have some kind of whole-school event, but we agreed that Homecoming weekend has too many sporting events to include a dance, so we thought something in the winter would be fun.”

Originally, this dance was something students looked forward to each year, but about a decade ago, the dance stopped happening because students weren’t coming, and pretty much just the SA was in attendance, so it wasn’t worth the effort to continue to produce this event. All the events and the ideas for them come from students, and since no one has suggested bringing back the Winter Formal since the tradition ceased, it has not happened.

As far as the future goes, if students had a blast and would want to go again, the SA would be happy to work to make it possible for the dance to become a tradition again.

Ms. Rice says, “The biggest challenge in our district is finding a date for events. Our gyms are used by the HS, MS, Rec, and even the elementary schools at different times of the year. Students proposed the event, we had to figure out a date that was available, and now we need to figure out the logistics (food and entertainment).”

The dance is scheduled to take place February 3rd of 2023 in the Gym and will provide a fun night for all four grades. Formal attire will be mandatory and the entertainment has yet to be determined, but there will definitely be dancing, dinner, and fun for all.