Since Cinnaminson High School’s opening in 1962, there have been 53 homecoming dances and proms as well as many other school events. Our current school year includes Homecoming,
sophomore cotillion, a winter semi-formal dance, and the Prom.

The semi-formal dance was started four years ago by Mrs. Alvarado and Mr. Becker in collaboration with DECA. “We just felt that there was really nothing in between homecoming and prom,” Alvarado explains, “the whole idea is to unify the school.”

Something that brings students to the dance is the Data Match. This survey is a fun activity that matches students with their “perfect matches” which they find the results of at the dance. While students can choose to purchase their results without going to the dance, most would rather go to the event.

According to Mrs. Alvarado, the idea of the winter dance began with a group of girls from the class of 2015 when they were sophomores, “they said ‘we should have a dance, just to get dressed up and do something, there’s nothing to do in the winter,’” and after collecting
positive responses from their peers this plan was put into action.

Ms. Iaconelli has been in charge of student council for the past twenty years, which includes the responsibility of the Homecoming dance. When she first took over this role, Ms. Iaconelli increased ticket sales, as the former teacher in charge had limited the amount of students allowed to attend, “students were getting upset that they couldn’t go, that year the number went up to about 500,” and there have been about 600 students who have attended every year since then.

Ms. Iaconelli is always open to suggestion as her goal is to make sure everybody has a good time at Homecoming, “the years that we’ve gotten negative feedback, we’ve tried to change the
food choices or change the DJ and I always consider recommendations from students,” Ms. Iaconelli explains. She also noted that while it is impossible to please everyone, she does her best to make the event as great as it can be.

Although the attendance has stayed high, the excitement has clearly gone down. Sophomore Olivia Schmitt did not attend the sophomore ring cotillion as she claims that school dances are not “her thing.” She feels that although people do attend these events, they don’t have as much fun as they think they will, “students would rather spend their time and money on something other than a school dance,” Schmitt claims.

While the winter dance is a fundraiser for DECA, members of the club explained that they would still attend if it did not directly affect them. Senior Kayla Peterson would attend, “just because it supports something in our school.”

At the DECA sponsored “Under the Sea” Dance, the tables were arranged differently than they have been at previous dances. This could have been to distract from the small amount of students present. The tables however, were then filled with more students than the dance floor at times. Those that wanted to go the dance could be found dancing and having a good time, as opposed to the students that remained sitting at the tables.

There are students, however, who would prefer anything over going to a school dance. When asked about the cotillion, sophomore Finn Raymond said, “I didn’t go, there was a concert the night before and that was better than cotillion would have been.”

The excitement over these events is not as prevalent as some may assume.

As a long-time substitute at CHS since the 1980s, Mrs. Loza said, “It could be just the changing times, but it’s a shame because [the dances] were fun. They were always fun.”

Even freshman Drew Colfer rejected the idea of the winter dance, “I would not go to that, Homecoming was boring enough.”

As Mrs. Loza also points out, “Students complain there’s nothing to do, there’s no where to go, but when you provide it, they don’t show up, they don’t do it.”

However, Senior Marina Urban believes that underclassmen do not have the appreciation for school functions that seniors have, “for us, it’s almost nostalgic…and the more people who go, the more
fun it will be.”