Pinewood hosted its annual high school winter formal on January 21. This dance was a thrilling opportunity for the students who attended, as its venue was a luxurious cruise ride around the San Francisco Bay. 

While the location was exciting, the prices were the opposite. Although there was a presale that advertised tickets for $125 each, students who paid the grand fee of $145 were wary. 

Director of Student Life Kyle Riches, who oversaw the planning and execution of the dance, said the pricing and location decisions were based on several factors.

“[W]e take the total cost of the venue, the transportation, [and] whatever else we need divided by . . . how many students are gonna go, and then that’s what we set the ticket prices at,” Riches said.

Student Leadership Council President Daniel Blotter added that admission fees were raised to accommodate the extra expenses of hosting the dance on a cruise ship. Some aspects that factored into the higher prices were the buses to and from the San Francisco Bay, the sit-down dinner, and the DJ.

Riches clarified that any confusion about a supposed location change actually stemmed from last year’s dance being hosted on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

“We decided on the boat over the summer, so it’s always been on the boat for this year,” Riches said. 

Historically, Winter Formal had been on the cruise, but in recent years, locations have been alternating to allow attendees to try new activities instead of experiencing the same setting every year.

“[P]eople started getting bored of [the boat] which is why a few years ago, they changed the location to the boardwalk,” Blotter said. “However, after doing that for a couple years, people started getting bored of it again. So, . . . We decided to bring back the tradition of having it in a yacht.”

Because students thought that the dance would be held on the boardwalk again, they expected last year’s lower prices. During the day-long presale window, tickets were twenty dollars cheaper, but not many people were able to take advantage of the discount since it began on a Tuesday afternoon. Though the presale had inconvenient timing, it was lucky that a presale had even happened.

“We’ve only done one other presale,” Riches said.