Students, teachers, and parents came together at Cal High for a festive dance like no other.

More than 200 students with special needs attended the Winter Wonderland dance on Dec.  2, and enjoyed dancing, playing games, making crafts and many other activities at the annual Bay Area event.

An additional 100-plus teachers, parents and aides also attended and worked hard to make the dance a great event.

Students from five different school districts throughout the Bay Area were warmly welcomed to Cal, which hosted the dance for the first time.

The two-hour dance was organized and sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) and private donors, and run with the help of numerous student and parent volunteers.

Cal High leadership students played a big part in helping set up for the event by making posters and decorating the school’s event center.

Most leadership students also helped at the event, running stations of games and tables for arts and crafts, and dancing with students who attended.

Senior Meghan Oei danced to the music with students from special education classes as she volunteered at the event with her fellow leadership classmates.

“[Leadership has] known about the event since last year, and it was really fun to be a part of it,” Oei said.

Numerous parents were in attendance as well, dancing with their children and having fun meeting other people.

Many of them particularly enjoyed the safe environment that the dance offered for students with special needs to have fun and socialize with students from other Bay Area schools.

Parent Darrel Stinson attended the dance with his daughter Selena Stinson, who is a freshman at Dougherty Valley High School.

“It’s really nice to see all of these special needs kids having fun in their own ways and nobody around for us to have to explain their behavior,” said Stinson. “Selena was told about this event at school and asked me to come to the dance with her.”

Leadership students helping out were equally as excited to have Cal host the event.

“I think it’s amazing,” said freshman LaJolie Beugre. “It’s so nice to see [the students] happy doing all these different things, whether it’s eating, taking pictures, or arts and crafts.”