Fair Grove High School held their 2026 Courtwarming dance on January 31st, following the basketball games the Friday before.
Fair Grove’s Student Council (STUCO) is in charge of the planning and set up of the dance. Before any dance, STUCO members plan out the details, delegate different setup groups, and decorate. Michael Van Cleave, the STUCO sponsor, explained, “Stuco determines the theme for the dance, then determines how to decorate to match that theme.”
The theme of this years’ dance was ‘Under the Floating Lights’. “The theme is typically chosen through discussions, which are usually influenced by the older members,” Van Cleave said. He continued, “We typically decorate after the game on Friday, and tear-down right after the dance concludes on Saturday.”
He went on, “My favorite thing about courtwarming is the decorating…We are usually there for several hours working. There are always a few laughs and I really enjoy hanging out with the students outside of a math classroom.”
Outside of STUCO, others are also more involved with the dance, rather than just attending. Multiple teachers, such as Nikki Kisling and Darci Friberg, chaperoned. Quincy Williams (12) also had a bit of a different experience than the average attender, because she was a Courtwarming queen candidate.
“I feel like it doesn’t differentiate too much…the only difference will be wearing a long dress while most of my friends will be wearing short ones,” Williams stated. She continued “My favorite parts have been getting dressed up with my friends, taking pictures, and having fun at the dance!”
Courtwarming had a significant change from previous years, with the band Blind Distraxtions. The band includes three Fair Grove High School students. The members are Malachi Cockroft (10), Miller Bettis (10), Colton Miller (10), and Corbin House (not a Fair Grove student). The three songs were “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, “Song 2” by Blur, “End of Beginning” by Djo, as well as an original song called “18 Hours” to close off the performance.
Miller explained the preparation that went into the performance, “We’ve been practicing our songs a bunch; we’ve also gone through a concert run figuring out what we will say, what we will do in between, and what we’ll do before and after the concert.”
Overall, there are many different roles that go into putting together Courtwarming, and it’s always worth it in the end. Hannah Schwab (12), Student Body President, exclaimed, “Courtwarming was a success this year! Having a live band play got everyone more involved with the night.”
