Cancellation of Winter Formal Causes Disappointment

Students+enjoy+the+Homecoming+dance+that+took+place+on+Oct.+1%2C+2022.+Like+Winter+Formal%2C+Homecoming+is+a+highly-anticipated+event

Alex Grycanowski

Students enjoy the Homecoming dance that took place on Oct. 1, 2022. Like Winter Formal, Homecoming is a highly-anticipated event

The Winter Formal at PLHS has always been a highly-anticipated event, but in recent years the dance has lost its majority support.

Winter Formal is organized by the PLHS Dance Team, with proceeds from tickets going towards their travel fund to the NDA Nationals in Florida in February. This year will be even harder to raise funds for the competition following the surprising announcement by Dr. Govier last Tuesday.

“Unfortunately we are canceling the Winter Formal,” Govier wrote in a message out to student emails Tuesday night. “Originally we wanted to make this call later in the week but certain deadlines for payment pushed this decision to today.”

Given that the Winter Formal has rarely ever been canceled, the unexpected news has brought a handful of students to disappointment. 

“I was supposed to bring my friend from Gretna and we had already gotten our dresses and everything,” junior Marissa Rolle said. “So we were both pretty disappointed.”

On the contrary of Rolle’s let down, the news did not come quite as a surprise to members of the dance team. 

“We knew it would happen one way or another,” junior dancer Amaya Davis said. “I was a little upset just because we put a lot of work and money into getting things set up.”

Weeks and even months prior to the formal, students had dresses purchased and dates planned, and will now have to resort to waiting until Prom in April, or even the next Homecoming. The dance team is hoping that their trip to Florida will be debt-free, and that their school-sponsored dance won’t dissolve in history.