For the first time since COVID, February will pass without a winter dance at NASH.

The announcement from Student Council earlier this month that MORP would be cancelled was met with a mix of student reactions.

“I was aggravated because I had plans with someone for the dance,” said a NASH student who asked to remain anonymous. “I found it disappointing that they cancelled it so close to the date.”

Other students took the news in stride.

“I wasn’t really planning on going,” NASH junior Jamie Pidhirny said, “so it didn’t really bother me that it was cancelled.”

MORP (or prom spelled backwards) was a longstanding winter tradition at NASH. The name of the dance changed last year to “Snow Ball.” More informal than Prom and Homecoming, the dance typically featured girls asking boys, rather than the other way around, though in recent years the trend of friend groups attending the dance became especially popular. 

Student Council’s decision to cancel the dance, which was scheduled to occur on February 14, was not taken lightly.

“The reason it was cancelled is that we didn’t have enough interest,” NASH Stuco Co-Sponsor Mrs. Newell said. “Kids weren’t ready to give up their Valentine’s Day plans, and it just seemed like it wasn’t getting enough traction. Our executive board came together and voted to not have it this year.”

StuCo officers were generally in agreement that the decision needed to be made.

“I was definitely upset about the outcome,” Corresponding Secretary Alli Reinhart said, “but for the future success of the dance, it was a step we needed to take.”

But for the junior class, at least, next year may offer another chance at the winter dance.

“The goal is that it does return to NASH in the future,” Newell said. “It all depends on student interest.”

StuCo President Dean Cammarata explained that the group is planning a special event in the spring to make up for the cancellation of MORP.

“In May, we will host a Teacher Jeopardy,” he said. “We will get some of NASH’s favorite teachers and have them face off in a game of Jeopardy. It will be free admission to all students and will be played in the auditorium.”

In the meantime, however, a winter in the absence of a school dance persists for NASH juniors and seniors.

“I understand why it was cancelled and that it would be hard to to reschedule,” senior Olivia Rodgers said, “but it would have been nice to have something to look forward to in the depths of winter.”