Prom is a special occasion for high school upperclassmen, it’s a right of passage that many remember for a lifetime. These memories can be fantastic, but they can also be disappointing. The good news is that we have control over what these memories hold. It’s our collective responsibility to make a great Prom happen; this includes fundraising, planning, promoting, and arguably the most important, attending. If we can get the ball rolling now instead of in a few months next winter, we can look forward to a much better, more enjoyable Prom experience. If we want an event students can get excited about next year, we need more money than what the school is able to provide, plain and simple. That means that we, the rising juniors and seniors of this year, need to organize ways to make money efficiently that can be put towards next year’s venue, music, theme, and spirit week.

In year’s past, C.H.S. Prom has been plagued by poor planning and under-funding. This is why we argue that the discussion has to be started now. We need to share ideas so that we can determine what we want and how we’re going to go after it. We want to hear as much as we can from all students, but until then we’ve taken the time to come up with a few ideas of our own concerning both fundraising as well as the planning of the dance.

Fundraising:

• Offer advertising at the dance as well as in the K.T.R. newspaper to local businesses in exchange for sponsorship or donations towards the Prom fund.
• Hold private Siren’s or T-Tones performances with the proceeds from ticket sales going to the Prom fund.
• Ole’ classic car wash or bake sale, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
• Offer in-school promotion of cosmetic, clothing, and transportation establishment’s (tuxedo rentals, dress shops, barber shops/salon’s, beauticians, catering services, limousine rentals, etc.) in exchange for sponsorship or donation to the prom fund.

2018-19 Prom:

• Outdoor venue, possibly a student’s or the relative of a student’s property. This could be a simple dance floor and tent, or even just a dance floor depending on the weather for the evening.
• Live music. Nothing beats dancing to live music, and it would really class up the event compared to former years.
• A student suggestion-based pep rally on the Friday before Prom, something that people will be excited to attend to get them in the mood for the dance on the following day.

We took the time to interview students at CHS to see what thoughts they had involving prom and the details behind it. Many people that we interviewed reached a consensus on the prom details and believed that prom next year should be at the Jefferson, we should have a DJ, and they all believed that there should be a more lenient dress code at prom. Although the DJ was a more favored option, some people still believe that a live band would be a much better option than a DJ. We hope this article reaches teachers and students who will be planning prom for the 2018-19 school year.