By Katie Best
Staff Writer
Not everything in life is black and white; there are all different shades of gray in between. So when planning this year’s Winter Ball, the sophomore class board had to find a theme that appealed to everyone.
According to chemistry teacher Michelle Tantillo, who helped plan this year’s ball, the sophomores chose the simple black and white theme because students from every grade would like it.
Besides wanting to appeal to every grade, the sophomore board’s choice on the simple black and white theme helped cut down on the cost of the ball by less decorations.

In order to pick out the theme, the sophomores went through various party magazines. Besides black and white, “winter wonderland” was also in the running towards being this year’s theme for the winter ball.
After narrowing down their ideas, the students went to talk to upperclassmen to find out their ideas for the ball. When asked which theme they preferred, as well as their ideas for the dance, the majority of the upperclassmen were in favor of black and white.
According to both Tantillo and sophomore Liz Sheehan, who is on the sophomore class board , the party decorations will not be as extravagant in the past.
Instead of being big and loud , there will be classy black and white decorations, which will be accented with silver. And although the theme is black and white, the sophomores and Tantillo want to stress that you don’t have to dress to the theme.
While preparations for the dance started before Thanksgiving break, decorations aren’t being put up until Friday, Jan. 22.
There, people working with Prospect Service Club as well as the sophomore class board members will be blowing up balloons, setting up tables and putting up various other decorations.
After the decorations are set up and the dance has begun, the Winter Ball Princesses will be crowned. This is where five girls from each grade are nominated, and only one girl from each grade is chosen to be a Winter Ball Princess. All the girls must have an escort to accompany them to the crowning ceremony.
The dance is set for the Saturday Jan. 23, the day after finals end.
“We are hoping that since finals are over it will [convince] people into going,” Tantillo said.
With finals being before the dance and the theme being simpler, Sheehan and the rest of the sophomore class board are hoping to have more people attend the dance.
“It’s simple elegance,” Sheehan said.
No idea where to go for your Winter Ball dinner? See what Gina O’Neill recommends in her Winter Ball Dining Guide.