On Feb. 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Archie Williams hosted its annual Winter Formal dance. Students danced at the Bill and Adele Jonas Center in Novato, an expansion of the College of Marin’s Indian Valley campus. Following complications with the original plan of serving Smashburger, the event featured complimentary pizza, a live DJ, and a fitting winter theme.
Upon entry, students were subject to randomized breathalyzer checks before being let into the event. The Center showcased a large dance floor in the middle of the venue, food and beverage stations, and different activities like cornhole and a photo booth.
Archie Williams’ Associated Student Body (ASB) had been selling tickets for the dance since early January, with student tickets priced at 45 dollars and guest tickets at 50 dollars. For this year’s dance the ticket prices have dropped, since last year student tickets were 50 dollars and guest tickets were 60 dollars.
Even with the price drop and new forms of entertainment, ASB struggled to make the dance appealing to upperclassmen. Junior ASB student Leo Spampanato dealt with this challenge prior to Winter Formal, acknowledging the difficulty ASB faced while organizing the dance.
“[ASB struggled with] getting people to come, especially upperclassmen [and] making it more inviting [for them],” Leo said.

All different grades of students attended Winter Formal, but the majority of the attendees were underclassmen, despite ASB’s best attempts to bring in more older students. However, the dance wasn’t fully lacking upperclassmen, as members of ASB and Peer Resource, as well as other juniors and seniors, showed up to the event.
This year’s dance was different from last year’s in a variety of ways. Senior student Jake Berg attended both this and last year’s winter formal and saw the changes made in the 2024-25 school year.
“[This winter formal is different] because it’s a much bigger venue. There’s a lot more space; I feel like at the last one at the country club, it [was] a lot more clumped together. So having a bigger space and more areas to go definitely helps a lot,” Jake said.
This year, ASB provided pizza that students could eat in between dance breaks, but despite advertisements, Smashburger wasn’t served. The restaurant was intended to be a big pull for students and was one of the reasons why ticket prices remained relatively high. However, due to unknown challenges, the school pivoted last minute and was unable to follow through.
Regardless of the continuation of the no-moshing rule from last year, students still made efforts, especially towards the end of the event. Though the rule stayed in place, making lots of students shy away from attending the dance this year, they were given some leeway when it came to moshing and the activity didn’t completely disappear.
Despite having no burgers, the student energy was high from the dance floor to the photo booth.
Miela Seligman, a freshman who attended her first winter formal, enjoyed the event and had a great time.
“[It was] really fun, I liked the songs that [they were] playing and [everyone’s] outfits. I [also] liked how [the venue] was big and open compared to our gym,” Miela said.
Even with rainy weather and no Smashburgers, students still had an enjoyable and memorable night. ASB’s next event is Prom, which will be May 10 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at SF City Hall.