This winter at Glenbard North High School students are wondering why so many schools near them have a turnabout or winter formal and Glenbard North does not. Glenbard North had winter formals prior to COVID-19 and According to those involved in planning prior winter formals pre-pandemic, the dances have not returned due to low attendance at Prom and Homecoming since the pandemic.

After realizing other schools in our conference like Lake Park and Wheaton North chose to have a winter formal, students at Glenbard North have been wondering why their school does not offer one. Activity Director at Glenbard North Kevin Erday speaks out about the school’s decision to not offer a turnabout or winter dance. Erday said Glenbard North “never chose not to have a winter dance. We actually used to have winter dances before COVID.” Erday adds, the school “didn’t necessarily do too well financially with that.” The school chose not to bring back the winter dance because low attendance caused financial loss to the school. 

When asked about her personal opinion on a winter dance, Anna Seebauer, ‘23, a member of the 2023 prom committee said “It would be great to have a winter dance because Prom and Homecoming are so far apart.” She also feels that “winter is a time where everyone is stressed out about school, and a winter dance would help students have fun in the middle of the year.” As the winter months can be tough for most students, a winter dance would be a good motivator for students to better engage with their classes. 

Although the winter dance has not returned since COVID-19, it is not because the school has refused to have one. Even though many students wonder why Glenbard North decides not to have one, very few have actually brought the idea to our activity director Kevin Erday. Erday remarks that “[the school] didn’t necessarily have student interest asking for it.” Lacking student investment, GN administration did not want to take on creating and promoting a dance without a committee of students who were motivated to make the dance successful. 

However, many students at Glenbard North do wonder why the school decides not to have a winter dance since they would be interested in attending. Olivia Fajkiel, ‘23, says she would attend a winter dance because “it seems like it would be fun and bring fun to a boring time during the school year.”  

Without a winter dance, upperclassmen at Glenbard North are already taking steps to prepare for Prom, leaving many of them to wonder what Prom 2023 will look like. When talking with Seebauer she said, “The theme Enchanted Forest was just decided.” Seebauer also said, “GBN is going to have a post prom for the first time since 2018.” The school’s Instagram page north.panthers is a resource to find information on school events. As a member of the north.panthers Instagram team, Seebauer encourages students to keep an eye out for more information regarding Prom on the north.panthers instagram as spring  and prom season approaches.

So although there is no winter dance, a normal Prom for the first time since 2019 will occur this May 2023. Upperclassmen are already preparing for Prom 2023 as it is now only two weeks away. When asked what she is looking forward to most about Prom, Seebauer said “[she] is  excited to spend one last night with [her] senior class before everyone goes their separate ways. This is the last time the class of 2023 will all be together before graduation.”