Snowflake decorations and cheerful snowmen will greet students in the gym lobby as they arrive at the upcoming “Sno-Co” Sadies dance. For current Chantilly students, this is the first time there will be a school dance other than Homecoming and prom. It’s also the first Sadie Hawkins dance in four years, which traditionally features a gender reversal in who asks whom to the dance. The winter semi-formal that has been dubbed “Sno-Co” by leadership students as a fun play on words will be held on Saturday, Feb. 29.
“There isn’t anything to do during the winter, and we thought having a semi-formal would be fun,” senior and leadership executive board member Angela Kim said. “Usually Sadies has never really kicked off at our school, and we thought of a new idea to make a winter dance; other schools that we’ve seen have been successful.”
Leadership students are in charge of planning and executing everything related to the dance. It is now one of many other school-related activities that they are in charge of, including the entire Homecoming week and dance, candy grams and Chantilly’s Got Talent. There’s a lot of unseen work and effort that’s put into the finished product, requiring multiple steps and a long time to carry them out. The students go through a process in which ideas are first taken to their committee leaders, followed by executive board meetings and approval by the administration and Principal Scott Poole.
“After all that, we can actually start doing things, so a lot of times we get things ready but then it happens to get knocked down by administrators or Dr. Poole for reasons like ‘They’re not inclusive’ or ‘People will be offended,’” senior and leadership student Barrett Kinnier said.
Despite the extensive approval process that puts leadership on a time crunch when it comes to preparation, the leadership classes were able to effectively plan out the details surrounding the semi-formal.
“We know people haven’t been as pleased with the DJ we’ve had in the past, so we got this new DJ that works for iHeartRadio and he’s expected to be really good,” senior and leadership executive board member Rachel Park said.
Apart from bringing in a new DJ who will provide a fresh music taste to the school dance, leadership students have also been working with the carpentry program to create cut-outs, decorations and a promotional video to get students excited for the event. Although the dance is going to be in the gym like Homecoming, there are several aspects that make it unique.
“It is a semi-formal, compared to Homecoming which is a formal, so people don’t have to dress up as much,” Park said. “The ticket prices are also cheaper; it’s going to be $10 the week before and $15 the week of.”
After all the work and stress of the first semester, the winter semi-formal will surely be a way to have a great night out with friends and make the most of the frosty weather. Buy your tickets ahead of time during lunch periods to experience the winter wonderland that is Sno-Co.