“Once Upon a Dream”: Students gather for annual winter formal Tigers face Panthers in Catfight game

by Editorial Staff

NDB’s annual winter formal dance was held on February 4, 2023 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Foster City. The dance’s theme, “Once Upon a Dream,” transported students to a fairytale world.

This year’s event had high attendance from NDB students and their accompanying guests, with a total of around 480 tickets sold. The dance’s guest policy was updated this year, permitting students to bring two guests instead of only one, so NDB students could bring along more friends for the exciting occasion.

Every year, the winter formal dance is put together by a winter formal committee, made up of members from both NDB’s National Honor Society (NHS) and California Scholarship Federation (CSF) boards. The event is entirely student-led, from food planning to decorations. The committee began preparing for the event at the beginning of the school year in September.

“The power of collaborating different skills and interests towards a dance for everyone to enjoy is really fun and culminates into a fulfilling product,” said NHS Board Member Ella Chatterjee.

From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., students had the opportunity to dance, eat and socialize. Music was provided by Quake City DeeJays, and some of the

See FORMAL| Page 3

by Ashley Strain Sports Editor

On January 27, NDB hosted the Woodside Priory HS Panthers in the annual Catfight basketball games in the Moore Pavillion. The varsity team played at 6 p.m., and the game had been advertised all week as a spirit event that would award the classes with the highest attendance spirit points, cookies and early dismissal for lunch. Despite the energetic crowd of NDB supporters, the Panthers pulled away after a close game, and the Tigers lost 38-47.

The varsity game also served as the Spirit Squad’s senior night. The nine seniors on the Spirit Squad were recognized in between the JV and Varsity games. The seniors, accompanied by their family members, walked through a tunnel made by their teammates and were greeted with flowers and posters before taking a photo with their coaches. After the ceremony, the cheerleaders lined up in their game-day lines, preparing to cheer on the varsity Tigers.

“I enjoyed being recognized during the Catfight game,” said senior Mabelle Joudieh. “Honestly, cheer is not paid as much attention when compared to other sports at this school, and a lot of people misinterpret what we actually do. Being recognized totally made it feel so worth it, especially performing at halftime because everyone could see just how much we do and what it takes to be a cheerleader.”

After the tipoff, the game began and the score remained close throughout the first half. Every few possessions, the Panthers would break ahead, but the Tigers fought back each time, so the team in the lead was constantly changing. By halftime, the Tigers were down by just two points with a score of 21-23.

See CATFIGHT | Page 11