Winter Ball is the only school-wide dance at Banneker every grade. This year’s theme for the Ball is “Red Carpet.” A majority of students usually attend the dance.
Tickets for the dance were $5, then an additional $5 fee if tickets are bought past the original due date, then a $10 fee per guest you bring.
Like during normal school hours at Banneker, there is a dress code for this event, though it’s significantly stricter.
Suits and ball gowns or fancy outfits are required since this is a formal event. If students wish to wear a suit, they should have a tie or bowtie with the outfit.
In the forms given to students to attend the ball and in the school-wide assembly, Banneker had “Do’s and Don’ts” for the Ball, providing very specific dress requirements.
Ms. Berger, Banneker’s principal, explained that the dress code is so strict because “students get confused between a ball and a party, so it’s not that it’s a strict dress code. It’s getting to understand what ball attire is supposed to be about. Party attire is … the different kind of look, but ball attire is different, right? … It’s, you know, really classy, and kinda upscale.”
One of the requirements was to wear dress shoes or heels, but Principal Berger suggests wearing comfortable shoes. “I guess that’s the best advice I can give you,” she said. Despite the strict dress code, she said, teachers and administrators are still looking out for students’ comfort.
When asked how many people usually come to the ball dressed to the dress code’s standards, Principal Berger estimated “ninety percent. Usually, the standard is broken by outside guests because they don’t understand our standard. And I think the information has not been articulated to them correctly. And again, their mindset is, ‘party, we’re going to a party at Banneker,’ but it’s a ball.”
Principal Berger said that when there are problems with how someone’s dressed, “We don’t turn [them away]—we make an adjustment. … for example, if a slit is split too high up, we give ’em a couple of pins. You know, it’s not like we’re like ‘You can’t come in.’ But, and I’ll be real transparent, if it’s something that you can see through, they’re going to be turned away.”
When asked if timing for getting outfits is taken into consideration when announcing the Ball, Principal Berger said, “That’s why we try to do the assemblies as early as possible. To give everybody a chance to go on Amazon, do whatever, go online and purchase an outfit.”
To address how the cost of outfits are taken into consideration, Principal Berger said, “some people, they … go online and pay $26 for a dress or an outfit and it’s great, some people will pay $260…” She also mentioned the rack of ball-appropriate clothing that’s available on the first floor: “we say ‘Hey, these are free,’ some gently used, some brand-new, still have tags on them. We even have shoes.”
She said that many students come to her before the ball, to make sure that their outfits adhered to the dress code.
She also said she appreciates that “usually freshmen are the ones that do the right thing,” probably because they’re new to the school and want to make a good impression.
Ms. Gilliam, an English teacher at Banneker, usually chaperones the dance. She hasn’t seen any students violating the dress code: “… I think students in the past looked really elegant and classy and fun. Yeah, I’ve never—I’ve never seen anything inappropriate …” She also said she’s never seen anyone turned away from the ball because of how they were dressed.
Several students said that the dress code was “too strict” and “not fair.” Some of them said that they “Don’t like formal events like balls” But, others said that “It’s one of the few events where people actually enjoy themselves and have fun.”
