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While many juniors are angry that prom is a senior-only invite again, students don’t realize a survey preference played a role in that
WRITTEN BY MADISON WINTERS AND MYA WEISS
With the warm weather and prospects of summer quickly approaching, the annual tradition of prom ticket sales, dress shopping, and promposals has taken hold of the students here at DHS.
Prom invitations have been delivered to seniors and students are beginning to question, why doesn’t DHS offer a Junior Prom or have a Junior-Senior Prom as well? In 2019, the last year that both juniors and seniors were invited to prom, juniors and seniors received prom invitations similar to those recently distributed. They were neat, formal, handwritten invitations marking the special occasion.
HOW PROM HAS CHANGED: Seniors have a prom-like “Senior Celebration” at Al Ritt in May of 2021. Only seniors have received a prom invite post-pandemic. Photo courtesy of Cole Horvath.
But why did that change? In 2020, Covid and quarantine turned our world upside-down, causing prom to be cancelled
along with the rest of the school year. The ripple effect caused by these events impacts how we still go about prom and other school ceremonies today, but that’s not the only reason for this change.
A common misconception is that decisions regarding school dances like prom and homecoming are made by DHS Principal Melanie Nowak. However, this is not the case. Mrs. Debora Marsh, the NHS Prom and Ceremonies Committee, and the parents who attend the bi-monthly planning meetings have the task of planning prom.
Throughout the year, they spend time choosing the location, deciding on the theme, and making prom a night to remember. However, this task doesn’t just fall on them. Multiple surveys are sent out each year to get the student body’s opinion. In a survey at the beginning of the school year, seniors can vote on the prom theme. The theme ideas are produced by those on the Prom NHS committee.
In another survey, students voted unanimously that they didn’t want a sit-down dinner to go along with the dance, instead preferring to have dinner on their own.
Unknowingly, this decision is what led to the end of prom being for both juniors and seniors. This year’s senior class consists of nearly 300 students.
“Even if half of them go to prom and bring a plus one, that means we’re looking at a venue that needs to fit at least 300,” Marsh said.
If we account for around the same amount of juniors, the venue would need to accommodate 500- 600 people at a minimum. No venues in the area can accommodate that large of a number of people without a sit-down dinner. This is why when that decision was made to take away a sit-down dinner, it put an end to the Junior-Senior Prom previously held at DHS.
Ultimately, who is able to go to prom depends on the size of our classes and whether or not students want a sit-down dinner at the prom venue.
If prom was hosted in the commons or at a more relaxed banquet hall, however, the possibility of a Junior-Senior Prom could become a reality again.
These aspects of prom are subject to change as they’ve been revised numerous times throughout the years. It all comes down to decisions made by those attending prom, whether directly or indirectly.
