Spirit Club and the Class of 2017 hosted a masquerade-themed Winter Ball for upper school students in Nichols Atrium on Feb. 20 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Students originally chose the Winter Ball theme during the Harker Spirit Kick-Off in the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. Those who attended the event were able to pitch original ideas and then vote on them.

This year, instead of investing funds in decor and furniture, the junior class decided to invite DJ Crank from WiLD 94.9 to play music for the dance.

“The students really wanted a different DJ, so they went out and selected a DJ that they’d seen at a DECA event before from 94.9,” said Kerry Enzensperger, Director of Upper School Community Service and Student Activities Coordinator. “From what I’ve heard, he’s really great.”

To promote Winter Ball attendance, Spirit Club and the junior class experimented with various public relations strategies. First, they offered discounts on tickets: regularly, they cost $30, but if 75 percent of an advisory bought tickets, the price dropped to $25 each. Overall, Spirit Club and the junior class sold 250 Winter Ball tickets.

The day before the event, Spirit Club also displayed signs and posters around the clocks inside the Main building.

“I think the toughest challenge is getting people excited and wanting to come out to it,” Spirit Club Vice President Arben Gutierrez-Bujari (11) said. “It’s kind of a struggle, the community we’re in, but once we start really getting the excitement up, it makes it a fun, good time.”

Spirit Club and the junior class opened the doors to Winter Ball at 8 p.m., but few students came in until around 9 p.m.

At the event, DJ Crank played several popular songs, including “Apple Bottom Jeans” by T-Pain, “Hit the Quan” by iLoveMemphis and “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon. For the slow dance, students danced to “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars.

Towards the end of Winter Ball, DJ Crank played DJ Casper’s perennial “Cha Cha Slide,” even calling on seniors Sanil Rajput , Emma Doherty and Yasmin Narin to lead the dance on top of a speaker.

Though the majority of the student body didn’t attend Winter Ball, some students were excited about the experience, especially since Winter Ball is the last formal dance open to underclassmen.

“The music was really good and the deejaying was top notch,” Taylor Lam (9) said. “I enjoyed spending quality time with my best friends while relaxing, which is very rare.”

Others that attended Winter Ball also enjoyed the decorations and the music.

“I’d say my favorite part [of Winter Ball] would be the decorations,” Daniel Reidenbach (11) said. “I also like that they funded for a new DJ.”

Some students had prior academic and extracurricular commitments that conflicted with Winter Ball.

“I had a national tournament in San Diego that the Olympic coach had advised me to go to if I wanted to obtain a national ranking, so I was unavailable at the time,” Linus Li (10) said.

Others simply had little or no interest in Winter Ball.

“I have a robotics tournament that day, so I can’t go,” Mona Lee (10) said. “Also, I went to Homecoming freshmen year, and it wasn’t all that fun, so I don’t expect Winter Ball to be any different.”

For next year’s Winter Ball, Spirit Club plans on developing a comprehensive marketing plan and putting funds mainly toward a DJ again.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 3, 2016.