The Kaiapoi High School formal for 2019 was a Winter Wonderland theme.

As part of being Head Students for Kaiapoi High School in the year 2019, we (Layla Bailey-McDowell and Ashley Adams) were given the privilege to be heads of the formal committee. This gave us the chance to ultimately organise the entirety of our formal, which was an endearing challenge. 

Formals are an extremely fun night where senior students of the school as well as teachers, come together and enjoy a night out, all glammed up. Though the night itself is spectacular, there is a substantial amount of planning needed to ensure it is, in fact, a great night. Let's just say, it wasn’t as easy as we hoped it to be!

This year we wished to have everything as organised as possible come the third term. This meant we had to find a venue to hire, whilst sorting out photographer, food packages, DJ, theming, transport, tickets, permission slips and any extra entertainment options. With the majority of the formal being student-led, it gave us the chance to strengthen our management skills as well as our critical thinking. Spending days and nights ensuring we had the correct amount of money by a specific deadline. We also could not have done it without the help of the great office team, who helped us with selling the formal tickets. Also Miss Smith, who was the teacher involved with the formal. We would like to give a special thanks to them for all the support and help!

Now let’s get to the interesting part. Come 7:00, students from all over North Canterbury arrived at the spectacular venue of Sixty6 on Peterborough street. Dressed in their finest suits, best dresses, and gorgeous outfits, students entered Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland was our theme chosen for this year, and we were blown away by how stunning the venue looked, full of bright lights, the silky white setting was amazing. Greeted by the door by the Principal and Head Student team, couples were then snapped by our great photographer. They then walked along the red carpet, and entered the formal zone.

The formal consisted of a night full of dancing and socialising, as well as eating. It was a fun night, where young adults seemingly joined together in laughter an amusement, no matter the differences. Students danced, helped themselves to kai, took photos in the photo booth, whilst showing off their confident self. As part of our formal, we ran a student voting system on Prince and Princess (year 12), King and Queen (year 13) as well as other awards such as the cutest couple and best dressed male and female. The recipients were as follows:

Prince: Leyton Wright  Princess: Lollie Stallard  King: Balin King  Queen: Lucia Davis

Cutest couple: Emma Blackwell & Sean Cowper   Best dressed: Logan Maloney & Caitlyn Howe

The formal was an awesome experience this year, and we both hope everyone enjoyed their night! Especially as year 13 students, with this being our last formal, it was certainly a night to remember!

Nga mihi koutou,

Layla and Ashley