LONG BEACH, CA- At 12:25 pm on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023, Activities Director Erin Fekjar sent a text message and e-mail to the Wilson High School community announcing that Winter Formal, originally scheduled for Saturday, February 25th, would be rescheduled to Friday, March 10th. 

When questioned as to the motives of rescheduling to this specific date, Fekjar said, “We had to go with the dates that were available [for] the USS Iowa.”  The location mentioned was the venue where the dance was to be held (at the time of this rescheduling).

According to Fekjar, this decision was “a conversation between the leadership team and the ASB president”. 

To reschedule, in retrospect, was wise considering the recent stormy weather. However, the issue with this new date has been that of student athletes all throughout the school. 

Although some rescheduling has occurred across sports to support student athletes who wish to attend the formal, there are still a few events that will take place on Friday the 10th. Events include a varsity baseball game happening from 3-5pm at Compton High School, and a gymnastics event being held at Millikan High School from 4-8pm. The baseball and gymnastics teams (upwards of 40 students) will either not be able to or struggle to rush to be able to attend formal. 

One answer for the issue will be to return tickets- but what is the refund policy? ASB President Alyssa Velasquez stated that. “ASB is offering refunds until Friday March 3rd. You just have to come in with a parent/guardian note and directly hand that to the activities director.” 

When asked about the student athlete’s attendance to the formal, Velasquez held an apologetic tone, but it was apparent that she worked hard to make the formal enjoyable and available for everyone. 

Velasquez stated, “ASB has been working with the athletics team and we have gotten swim meets moved and rescheduled, as well as coordinating things with the baseball program and other clubs and athletics on campus. So, we are trying to accommodate as many Bruins as we can.”

Beyond this change of plans, the Winter Formal was relocated from the USS IOWA to the Crafted Warehouse at Port of Los Angeles for 8-12pm; the change of venue due to the forecast of a rain storm that is to hit on Friday, March 10th.