By Elaine Gargano, Staff Writer
November 18, 2023
ROCKLAND- This February, Rockland High School will host a Winter Formal dance.
Last year was the first time in several years that a dance was held in winter, in addition to the fall Homecoming and spring Prom.
Speaking of the 2023 dance, senior class president Chelsea Amaral explained, “that while there was a lack of participation overall, a lot of people did show up to the dance because it was a new event."
This dance was previously themed as "Black and White" and has just this past year been brought back as winter formal.
The change in theme from the classic black and white dance to the winter formal, as explained by student government council president Ava Hagan, “ allows the dance to be less constricting, and gives students more freedom.”
A recent survey of some students showed that a change in theme back to black and white would not change a student's decision to attend.
However, when those students were asked what they would change about the dance, they wished that the dance took place in the high school gymnasium rather than the middle school and was not during school vacation week.
This year, to combat the lack of participation Hagan explained that they are “ going to try and advertise the dance more, to bring in a larger crowd.”
Overall this tactic seems to be working as in a poll 51.6 % of the students who participated in the survey plan on participating in the winter dance this year.