Four months ago, and days after wrapping up homecoming, the Student Activities Committee (SAC) began planning the Winter Dance. With themes, music, light food, and dancing, the Winter Dance aims to lift up spirits during the long second semester and the dreary winter.

SAC reserved the American Swedish Institute for Saturday, Feb. 24., the day of the Winter Dance. The dance will last from 8 p.m.-10 p.m.

“The venue is the biggest reason that we have to start early because they are always booked out, especially because the winter formal is on a Saturday,” SAC co-president Wafa Naqvi said.

The night of the dance will be the same as usual with music and dancing. The only consistent change is the theme. This year SAC chose to go with a fairytale theme. However, SAC noted some issues in past dances that they hope to resolve for this year. One of the main issues is catering.

In prior years, Naqvi and Hanf recalled that the dance served simple and diverse appetizers. However, certain foods would run out of servings. This year SAC plans to only serve desserts, mainly cupcakes and chocolate-covered strawberries.

“Instead of having a bunch of [food] and less quantity, we’re trying to have just those two things with more of them available so that they don’t run out,” Naqvi said.

With a month left before the dance, some things are still up in the air, which includes plans for a “Winter Week.” Similar to Homecoming Week, there will be themed dress-up days every day leading up to the dance. Hanf and Naqvi said SAC had planned Winter Weeks before but they ended up falling through due to a lack of communication with the student body.

Considering the burnout that happens in the middle of the second semester, the dress-up days will prioritize student comfort. For example, a theme fitting for Winter Week would be Pajama Day or Ugly Sweater Day.

Along with dress-up days, SAC hopes to also host student activities during the week such as making s’mores and hot chocolate, despite it not being successful in the past.

“I feel like we always have a Winter Week in terms of dress-up days, but we never have any activities. We’ve tried to do gingerbread houses in the past or cookies, [but we] always at the last minute aren’t able to do it,” SAC co-president Kate Hanf said.

If the student activities don’t work out, SAC hopes to at least host one big school or advisory activity.

With all the major components figured out, SAC expects to have their plans for the Winter Dance finalized in a couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for posters and announcements regarding more information about the Winter Dance.