Katie Samol | The Chronicle
No sparkly dresses, no formal shoes, no Snow Ball. For the first time in four years, Mason High School (MHS) is scrapping its winter dance and replacing it with the Winter Chill Out social.
Organized by the MHS Student Government (StuGo), the new social will be held at Mason Middle School from 9 to 11 p.m. on Feb. 13, immediately after the Pink Out boys basketball game. The event will be a more casual, activity‐based alternative to the traditional winter dance.
MHS associate principal Brandon Rompies was a lead administrator in planning the Winter Chill Out. He said attendance was a challenge with the winter dance and that the turnout had to justify the cost and effort of holding the event.
“We’ve almost not had a winter dance the last two years because the numbers were so questionable,” Rompies said. “StuGo has been trying to create some
variation that sticks with the student body, but nothing has been ingrained like Homecoming, which is a very strong tradition.”
Assistant director of Student Activities Lori Howard, StuGo advisors and Rompies began rethinking the winter dance in Nov. 2025. Rompies said they wanted to see if a relaxed event would better appeal to students.
“The thought is maybe if we do this winter social event, it’ll be a little bit more low-key,” Rompies said. “Kids don’t have to wear ties and get dresses and get flowers and all those things.”
MHS junior Delaney Radtke is student body treasurer and overseer of the winter social StuGo committee, with experience planning the Winter Dance in previous years.
“Winter dance always had a special place in my heart,” Radtke said. “Attendance isn’t always as high as we hope it to be, but I have always really enjoyed the dance. I’m kind of sad to see it go, but I am excited for this new adventure that we are going to set sail on.”
According to Rompies and Radtke, the Winter Chill Out will be similar to the MHS After Prom. Radtke said this pivot is something to look forward to.
“We’re taking what the school does for After Prom, and we’re making it accessible to everyone,” Radtke said. “We see [strong] underclassmen attendance at the winter dance, so having a social that’s similar to After Prom rather than a dance gives underclassmen that experience that they may not be able to have in their early high school years.”
While the Winter Chill Out offers the casual atmosphere that administration and StuGo hope is more approachable, it replaces the traditions of a conventional dance.
“It’s definitely missing that Homecoming dance vibe to it,” Radtke said. “Me and a lot of my friends went [to the Winter Dance] because we liked taking cute pictures and getting dressed up. The [Winter Chill Out] will still have the opportunity to take cute pictures, but it kind of lacks the glamorous dance part.”
MHS senior Katelynn Pottebaum is a member of the Winter Social StuGo committee, with experience on the Winter Dance committee during her freshman and sophomore years. She has attended the winter dance all three years she has been at MHS.
“I was honestly a little heartbroken because it’s a tradition for me and all my friends,” Pottebaum said. “I understand why they decided to pivot, considering there aren’t normally as many people at the dance. But, I really enjoyed it, so I was sad that for my senior year, we were no longer having it.”
Pottebaum said liked how the Snow Ball was a more laid-back school dance with less pressure compared to Homecoming.
“It will be missed,” Pottebaum said. “[The Snow Ball] was a great way to spend time with each other outside of school and outside of what we do every weekend. It was such a fun tradition [and] a chance to build more memories together.”
MHS junior Reid White is a 2-time winter dance attendee and a Winter Social committee member like Pottebaum. While he has enjoyed his experiences at the winter dance, White is mostly excited to see what is to come with the Winter Chill Out.
“At a dance, all there is to do is to dance, and that might not be everybody’s cup of tea,” White said. “I feel like it’s gonna be more interactive [and] we’re gonna [have] more things to do, so I’m excited about that.”
White said that the Winter Chill Out may be enjoyable for everybody, no matter their level of extroversion. He said he does not see the change as a tradition coming to a close, but rather as an opportunity for growth.
“Maybe to some people it’ll look like a tradition is dying, but I view it as it’s just changing,” White said. “It’s going through a metamorphosis, and it’s gonna become something hopefully better than what it was.”
In administration and StuGo’s push for the best winter event option, the Winter Social may find success and become a tradition or may continue to evolve. White said that either way, a February event such as the Winter Chill Out needs to stick around.
“I really like that it brings community together,” White said. “I think that the school almost needs a little thing to look forward to during second semester, especially when it’s tough. I think we need events like this for the Mason High School culture, [where] we all gather after a basketball game, hang out, have food, listen to music and just kind of chill together.”
