Disco balls, strobe lights and lots of purple made for the perfect setting for students to dance the night away at the “Ultraviolet”-themed Winter Ball on Friday, Feb. 3.

For their first time hosting an event, the Class of 2025 decorated the CHS cafeteria with vibrant, sparkling decorations. Sophomore class president Phin Whedon of Wall Township shared his thoughts on planning the semi-formal dance.

“Overall, the process was super rewarding,” Whedon said. “Everything turned out how we planned it, which was such a relief.”

For all but the senior class, this was the first time students were able to enjoy the Winter Ball without a mask and eat food inside, with options including Domino’s pizza and desserts. Having such a successful dance, however, did not come without struggles.

“Challenges were met with great organization and teamwork,” said Class of 2025 advisor and Spanish teacher Courtney Van Arsdale. “But pooling materials for the decorations committee, meeting together to get things made [and] using our modest funds to purchase on Amazon were some of the bigger concerns.”

The Ultraviolet theme was showcased not only in the decorations, but in the elements of glitter and purple seen in students’ outfits as well. Van Arsdale shared her thoughts on the outcome of the dance.

“I really enjoyed hanging back admiring everyone’s fantastic sense of style and watching everyone cut loose after such an insanely stressful week,” Van Arsdale said.

Students of all grades flocked to the dance floor, enjoying the night dancing with people they may hardly know, one of the benefits of the large dance circles that are often a crowd-pleaser.

“My favorite part of the Ultraviolet Winter Ball was the dance circles,” said junior Alex Batzar of Middletown. “It was so funny to watch everyone cheering on the person dancing in the center.”

Senior Elle Mountford of Wall Township commented on how the Class of 2023 was in a lavender haze soaking up their final CHS dance.

“My favorite part of the winter ball was dancing and screaming the lyrics to the Taylor Swift songs with my friends,” Mountford said. “But the thing I will miss most about school dances is ‘Mr. Brightside’ playing as the last song because it is such a well-loved tradition.”