Annual Winter Ball, themed “Starry Night,” lights up campus

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Kathy Fang

Sana Pandey (10) does the cha-cha to a mix of music from the DJ. Winter Ball took place on Jan. 20 in the Nichols Atrium.

by Vivian Jin, Reporter

The upper school’s annual Winter Ball, themed “Starry Night” this year, took place in Nichols Atrium on Jan. 20 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

The junior class council and Harker Spirit hosted the dance as a fundraiser for the junior class and were facilitated by Director of Upper School Community Service Kerry Enzensperger and Assistant to Activities Director Eric Kallbrier.

“We thought that ‘Starry Night’ would most accurately capture the Winter Ball theme. We wanted to do something that would look fancy [and] classy,” junior class president Kelsey Wu (11) said. “It would provide us [with] a lot of freedom in terms of decoration and food.”

In the atrium, giant stars and strings of yellow lights hung from the second floor. Lamps bathed the building in swatches of blue. Round tables covered with star-shaped glitter and decorated with balloon centerpieces stood around the room.

I don’t think people know how long it takes to put it together,” Enzensperger said. “[But] the junior class council is extremely organized. I basically just facilitated [and] helped everything that they asked for happen.”

Throughout the night, a confetti cannon fired sporadically into the crowd of over 350 students. The junior class council also supplied students with glow sticks during the dance.

“I was with my friends and we were dancing,” Elaine Zhai (9) said of her first high school dance experience. “I thought the songs at Winter Ball were really cool… and there were confetti cannons! They never had that stuff at the middle school. There are a lot more people; it’s a lot more fun.”

At the end of the night, DJ RJ Navalta, a breakdancer for the Golden State Warriors, performed a flip over the heads of several sitting students and showcased some of his breakdancing skills in the middle of a ring of cheering students.

This year’s Winter Ball featured a series of new highlights, including a telescope set up by physics and research teacher Chris Spenner outside Nichols and an open-air photo booth.

The junior class council’s budget for Winter Ball preparations was $6,000. They spent over $5,500 on the dance.

“Just coming to a consensus on everything is definitely a challenge,” Kelsey said. “Also, some things that we wanted to do [were] out of our budget.”

Juniors and seniors, as well as freshmen and sophomores if invited, may attend prom on April 28.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on February 5, 2018.