Since 2020, prom has looked different for students of SHS due to COVID-19, but this year the event returns to its highest form as COVID-19 cases lower. Prom will take place on April 9 at the Overture Center in Madison with an enchanted forest theme.
Besides picking out the theme for this year’s prom, prom committee has been hard at work with figuring out all of the other aspects that the special night entails, including post-prom, a role junior class president Evan Loftus is in charge of.
“I plan everything that goes on post-prom. We find the [raffle] prizes and get donations from businesses, as well as find activities we think students might want to do,” Loftus says.
Activities such as a hypnotist, a bouncy castle, ping-pong, giant twister, a raffle, and food will also be available. All of this was decided on with the goals to have prom night be a “safe, alcohol-free, drug-free, and fun environment,“ prom advisor Katy Mullen says.
Actual prom will start at 9 p.m. and end at midnight. Post-prom will go from 12:30 a.m. until 3 a.m. in SHS’s field house. The cost of post-prom is included in the $45 prom ticket price that will be sold at the Viking Shack during the weeks of March 21 and April 4, along with at the door of the Overture Center. Even students that don’t attend prom, including underclassmen, will be able to attend post-prom for the price of $10.
To afford the price of prom that sold tickets alone won’t be able to cover, prom committee has been finding other ways to reach the amount of money needed.
“Our first [fundraiser] was butter braids and then we had ice cream at lunch for one dollar that got donated,” Loftus says. “We are also thinking about doing another [fundraiser] that’s a Kwik Trip gift card for car washes which should be a pretty good seller.”
Some of the amenities that will be covered with such funds are a photo booth for the first time ever at prom, as well as free transportation to prom and $5 transportation back to the high school. To be allowed on the provided shuttles, students are required to sign up for them during the weeks that prom tickets will be sold.
Students are also required to bring their student IDs to prom, along with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test that was taken no more than 72 hours before prom. Even with these regulations, the dance is still going to look very similar to those proms prior to the pandemic.
“I’m most excited to see [prom] be so normal compared to last year. I can’t wait to see people enjoy prom and get dressed up,” Loftus says. “It’s such a fun night.”