With over 300 attendees, the most anticipated dance of the year is set for May 13. However, many students overlook the many months of preparation that go into making prom a possibility.

The junior steering committee led the effort, aided by junior class advisers Elisa Drake and Lorraine Zanini. Drake and Zanini often figured out logistics while students made key decisions.

“It isn’t our prom, so we wanted students to take that and own it and have the prom that they envision,” Drake said.

Preparations officially began around a year ago as students like Junior Class President Renee Gauthier and Prom Committee Chair junior Ryan Daloisio sent out surveys to determine what the junior class was looking for in a prom, although essential planning steps such as booking the venue were taken as far back as freshman year.

“It’s been challenging to fundraise because in [2020-2021], we didn’t collect dues and we didn’t have a lot of fundraisers due to COVID,” Zanini said.

Despite this financial obstacle, tickets were able to be kept to $60 per person compared to last year’s $80 price. The junior steering committee has been successful in a number of fundraisers, with one standout being the Boon Supply fundraiser at the beginning of the school year.

“We’ve put a lot of pressure on fundraising for the past two years, so that was helpful,” Gauthier said. 

Throughout the process, the committee encountered several challenges that they had not prepared for. Decorations were the main source of these obstacles, as the venue proved to be difficult to work with in terms of following the “Starry Night” theme. 

“Everyone wants a classic theme when they think of prom, but it’s so frustrating because the venue we have doesn’t allow us to hang anything,” said Gauthier. “The only thing we can really do is lighting, which makes it very difficult to have a theme.”

Flowers are an essential element of every prom, from table pieces to corsages. However, due to the timing of the event, the decorations were more challenging to obtain than the committee had expected. 

“The problem is, it’s the day before Mother’s Day, and everyone was fully booked,” Daloisio said. “We got flowers, but it was more difficult than normal.”

Regardless, they were able to overcome these challenges and put together the event successfully. Students can look forward to not only the interesting photo booths available at the event, but also the opportunity to be together with their peers and bond as a class.

“It’s a great time outside of school to be together as a group; people have been craving a formal dance,” Drake said. “Make fun memories!”