Instead of the Winter Dance, Palatine High School’s Student Council will be hosting a Bonfire BBall Bash on Friday, Feb. 7.
After the Winter Sports Assembly, the school plans to light a large bonfire outside where students can enjoy free hot chocolate and socialize around the fire. As the evening proceeds, students will move back inside to watch the boys basketball team take on the Schaumburg Saxons from 6-7:30 p.m.
“Starting in late fall, we decided to survey different groups of students to find out what they wanted to do in the spring, because we’ve noticed a thinning level of participation and interest in the winter dance over the years,” Head Student Council Advisor Jim Nowak said.
The results of these surveys showed that although students weren’t sure exactly what they wanted, most of them did not want to have a winter dance this year.
“Based on the ideas that they shared, we kind of weeded it down to between what they wanted versus what we could realistically do,” Nowak said. “This event sort of just came out of that.”
At the basketball game, rubber ducks will be sold to raise funds for Partners for Our Communities (POC), an organization formerly known as the Palatine Opportunity Center that works to connect underserved families with local resources and to remove barriers.
Students will be able to use their purchased ducks during the “Chuck-A-Duck” game and may have the opportunity to win AirPods, prom tickets, Nike Dunks or a parking pass.
Once the basketball games are over, students can enjoy the after party, having the option to watch a movie in the auditorium or take part in pop culture trivia hosted by the PHS Trivia Team. Free Chick-Fil-A will also be provided for students.
“I’m going to go there and then I’m going to see what there is to do and have a good time,” PHS junior Tyler Moi said.
Moi also described the free Chick-fil-A as a “good perk.”
In contrast to the Winter Dance, this event will be completely free to students. However, guests are not allowed at the event.
“If you want to go, there’s really not a whole lot of risk involved other than you might accidentally have some fun,” Nowak said.
