With school back in session after a two week winter break, the attention of many students is turning to the school’s first Winter Formal on Jan. 21, with the nominating process for Snow King and Snow Queen underway.

“Nominations opened on Tuesday and are ending on Friday with students being able to nominate their friends by filling out a Google Form through the link located on the Student Council Instagram,” Student Council President Anna Lyon said. “After nominations end, voting will start next week with nominees being announced to students to select and vote for.” 

Winter Formal nominations are much more different than those seen during Homecoming season as only one King and Queen will be chosen out of the whole student body instead of a court with nominees from each grade. 

“For Winter Formal, we decided to change things up by having a single King and Queen be voted out of the entire school rather than have different nominations per grade,” Lyon said. “People will be expected to go to the dance to see the nominees and also see who the King and  Queen is.”

With the new change in the nominating process, senior Akanksha Mehta believes that it both lessens chances for students in certain grades, but also allows for individuals to come together and connect with each other. 

“I feel like only having one King and Queen does mean there are fewer opportunities for students in various grades to be chosen,” Mehta said. “However, I feel that it also promotes unity by breaking down grade-level barriers and provides a more exciting recognition for the winners.” 

Similarly, senior Riya Khosla finds that the new system in nominating and voting for Snow King and Queen can provide benefits to the school as a whole, while also stumbling upon a few challenges. 

“I think it’s an interesting take as on one hand, it might make the school more tight-knit across the grades rather than keeping everyone in their respective ones,” Khosla said. “But also, I think it might result in less popularity just because so many students don’t know students in other grade levels, making this a vote on which grade votes the most rather than which candidate was most voted for among the entire school.”