School dance cancellations

JUST FOR THE GRAM AND NOT FOR THE EXPERIENCE

Another one bit the dust as the CCHS Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) announced on January 21 that the Winter Wonderland dance has been canceled. This seems to be the inevitable fate of many CCHS dances with the Aurora Ball and Sadie Hawkins dance also being canceled for the exact same reason: low ticket sales. The Winter Wonderland dance was planned in an attempt to replace the annual Stampede fundraiser held during periods three and four. The revenue made from Stampede was responsible for many school amenities such as providing planners for the freshman class and a scholarship for seniors. Despite three dances being canceled in the past two years, staple dances such as homecoming and prom are always nearly sold out at CCHS. Even though these dances are of high appreciation, many students leave the event within one hour of being there in order to attend other parties and events. So, it seems to be that no matter the dance, there is a lack of student interest across the board. “I haven’t gone to any school dances because on the one hand, I just never had anyone to take and if I’m going to hang out with friends, a school setting isn’t going to do much for me,” junior Daniel Edelman said. “Especially if I’m spending money on it, I’d rather spend it somewhere else, where it’s a calm environment; I don’t really like dancing all that much.” Hosting a successful dance requires an extensive amount of planning and budget to match. But at CCHS, there are certainly unique challenges to account for, one being the venue. When asked about their thoughts on dances held in the cafeteria, many students expressed their lack of interest since an event taking place in an area where they eat every day doesn’t seem very appealing. However, the main reasoning behind the cafeteria setting is to keep ticket prices low Above: Students enjoy the final moments of the 2019 Homecoming Dance. Homecoming and Prom are the only dances that a significant portion of the CCHS student body want to attend.

for students. Venues typically cost $20,000 alone to reserve, thus an individual dance ticket would cost significantly more. “I hire a professional decorator to come in and provide the decorations and transform the space into something other than what you see every day,” Student Government Association It costs roughly $20,000 to rent a venue other than the cafeteria for a school dance School dance statistics Flaten always keeps Homecoming ticket prices at $45 meaning that holding the dance in the cafeteria is the most affordable option. In the past three years, 3 school dances have been canceled due to low ticket sales Photo by Genna Nordling

BY SASHEEN JOSEPH (SGA) advisor Natalie Flaten said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a building and a room so we cut costs with that.” Another unique challenge for hosting dances at CCHS is persuading students to participate in a school event that has never been done before. This can be especially difficult since only 37% of CCHS students are active participants in clubs or extracurricular activities, according to Flaten. In light of this, if students are already reluctant to participate in school-based activities that require little to no monetary expectations, they’re going to approach participating in a dance in a similar manner. In this generation’s eyes, dances are no longer “cool,” they are just an excuse to dress up and take pictures for Instagram. “The sad thing is, [students] just wanted it to be Instagram post-worthy because they’re not expecting to have fun,” Flaten said. “Me? I can have fun in a paper bag because I’m going to it with the mentality of wanting to have a good time. You can make anything Instagram post-worthy if you’re creative enough.”

features 15 only 37% of CCHS students participate in extracurricular activities