Cece Easley, Reporter
Junior and Senior Prom are well-known traditions at the high school to celebrate the end of the year for upperclassmen. Because of the success of each Prom event in the past, it is little surprise that the students responsible for planning it begin their work months in advance to prepare for the perfect night.
Typically, the two events differ in both location and theme. According to junior Ellie Smith, a member of the Junior Prom Planning Committee, Junior Prom takes place on April 29 at the Italian Center. “The theme is ‘Rammys’ which is a play on words with Grammys. We thought that doing a Grammy themed prom would be fun and already had a creative name for it,” she said. “At the prom, we plan to continue the theme by giving out a few awards.”
Senior Prom, on May 13, will be casino themed, and take place at the Stamford Marriott on May 14, according to Senior Student Body President Delaney Smith. “The decorations, like the centerpieces and photo-wall, will be casino-related, including cards, chips, and more,” Delaney said.
The planning process has included budgeting and fundraising to ensure that the venue, food, and details would be a great experience for everyone involved, “One of our recent fundraisers was the underclassmen Spring Fling, which the senior class of Student Council organized and decorated,” Delaney said.
The Senior Student Coalition, with help from teachers, has played a crucial role in the decision making and collaboration. “To plan for prom, the senior student council worked together to pick a theme and select the food choices. We are currently working on the decorations and will be holding ticket sales in the upcoming month,” Delaney said. “The senior class advisors, Mr. Killelea and Mr. Bloss, as well as the Student Council advisor, Ms. Schulz, are very helpful in organizing the event.”
Junior Prom usually has a tighter budget to work with, as fewer fundraisers are typically done. “The teacher advisors have experience with planning proms in the past and gave us some pretty good outlines and tips,” said Ellie Smith, “I think the hardest part was trying to find a theme everyone would like and would also fit into our budget.”
According to Ellie, there is no grade-wide pre-prom planned for juniors, but details are set for the prom venue. “We are planning to have a few food stations. As of now, it is supposed to be pasta, tacos and sandwiches,” Ellie said. “We are planning to set up a photo backdrop as well.”
However, for Senior Prom, in addition to the preceding Ram Jam fundraiser which took place on March 25th, the planning process is more elaborate. “The traditions of senior prom include taking pre-prom photos before going to the Marriott. After that, the PFA runs a post-prom event,” Delaney said. “And finally, seniors typically go to the beach to watch the sunrise in the morning after post-prom.”
This spring will host the first traditional Junior and Senior proms since 2019. “Our grade doesn’t do many dances so it’ll be exciting to see how it goes,” Ellie said.
Devoted students who are members of StuCo, and the Prom Planning Committee have made the success of both events possible. “Being involved in the process was really fun and we had a really good group of people who all contributed a lot,” Ellie said. “We put a lot of work into it, making sure that everything is planned and looks great.”
Seniors in 2021 celebrated through a Gala in place of typical prom.
