Every year, juniors and seniors look forward to their prom – some even start to shop long before the long-awaited day. This most recent prom took place on May 11, 2019, at the Foothill Event Center, where many students left with happy smiles on their faces.

The Leadership class supervises prom planning, and, as the Activities Director and Leadership Teacher, Matt MacDonald explained how he believed it went.

“The prom … was really awesome,” he said. “I think it was a really good experience. I thought that having it up at the venue we did worked out really well. I think people had a good time. I was pretty pleased we had a really good turnout.”

Seniors Brittney Rogers and Ashley Darr described what made their nights glamorous.  

“Of course, getting ready, and before, is always so much fun,” Rogers said. “But my favorite part about the night was definitely just getting there and seeing everyone all dressed up and looking nice.”

“It was really cool when they played the song I requested, which was “Take On Me” by Aha,” Darr said. “They started a conga line of people dancing, and I thought that was pretty great.”

Some may have had some minor complaints, but Junior Dylan Walters chose to focus on the brighter side of prom.

“No, it just seemed totally normal, and it seemed like everything went smoothly,” he said. “Ralph or anyone else didn’t have to step in, and that was really good.”

Rogers assessed why students wouldn’t and would enjoy the dance.

“I heard a lot of complaints about the music, but, if you choose to have a good time, you’re going to have a good time,” she said. “But if you complain the whole time, you’re probably not going to have as much fun.”

Despite all of the fun aspects of prom, some upperclassmen reemerged with some concerns.  Typically, prom is an unforgettable experience for mainly juniors and seniors. This year, however, many noticed how the number of underclassmen had risen drastically.

“I felt like actually there were a lot more underclassmen than usual,” said Rogers. “I personally think that if you do go to prom as an underclassman, it’s not going to be as special when you’re an upperclassman, or you might actually choose not to go because you have already gone.”

She continued to explain why underclassmen should wait to attend.

“I would recommend to underclassmen actually not going until their junior year, just so it can be something you look forward to and be excited for, and it’s not just another dance,” she said. “I understand that people are in relationships with upperclassmen and underclassmen, but I did feel like there were a few too many underclassmen this year.”

While some were bothered by this fact, others were neutral.

“There were a few people that I recognized and some people I didn’t, but it was all very comfortable and nothing awkward,” said Walters.

The cherry on top to what makes a prom great are the incredible decorations. Walters provided a positive outlook on the finishing touches to the prom.

“It was all very well put together, and everything seemed super well thought out,” said Walters. “It was a very nice, normal prom. Nothing incredibly special – nothing bad at all either.”

On the other hand, Darr had a differing opinion from seeing the “behind-the-scenes” of the organization of prom.

“This year, I’m in Leadership, and there was a prom committee,” she said. “Whenever I looked over, they really didn’t do much to prepare. You could tell not a lot of work was put in that. I feel like … [if you] put more people on the committee, it probably would have had more decorations … or [had] more help than just a select few people that probably have a lot going on.”

Prom is always a night to remember, though some students provided some insight on what should be improved to make next year’s even better.

“Perhaps [having] … more song requests and maybe having a larger selection of food,” said Walters. “Possibly less things that are sweet – maybe things [like] more crackers and cheese.”

“[Start] playing good music from the very start of prom,” said Rogers. “It just took a while for leadership to get the music going [and] for the DJ to play our music instead of their music. So if we started that earlier, maybe more people would dance from the start, and it wouldn’t take so long to get people excited.”

Despite all the concerns of prom, it was definitely a night students would never forget.

-Annabelle Owyoung contributed to this report