Starting in late April, pictures begin to flow onto social media sites of girls in long dresses and boys in tuxedos. Stores begin selling gowns and ties of all conceivable colors and salons offer deals on hairstyles. Filled with corsages, limos, and laughter, prom season has arrived.
At St. Paul Academy and Summit School, prom happens later than at many schools, with this year’s junior and senior prom set for June 4.
But that doesn’t make it any less of an effort to organize or any less enjoyable. Junior Class Leadership Council (JCLC), which plans the prom annually, started working in the fall to book a location. Their tasks have also included finding catering and decorations for the venue.
JCLC debated between venues like the Como Park Conservatory and the Minneapolis Depot before settling on the Mill City Museum located on the Mississippi Riverfront in Minneapolis. “The Mill City Museum is really beautiful. I think everyone should be really excited,” JCLC member Louie Bogolub said.
“[We chose the Mill City Museum] because a lot of the seniors wanted it, and they kept coming up to us and suggesting it,” JCLC member Mansuda Arora said. “The whole point of JCLC planning prom is it’s a gift to the seniors so we wanted to do what they wanted,” she added.
While many schools choose a theme for their prom, JCLC elected not to have a theme in order to make the dance more inclusive of dress styles.
But that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of fun to be had. Senior Helen Derechin’s favorite part of prom is “just being with friends and knowing that it was a night to celebrate the end of school.”
Prom always brings plenty of excitement, whether it be dancing, spending time with friends, getting ready, or just looking at pictures from home.
“I think for girls, it’s probably getting a dress and being fancy,” senior Cynthia Zheng said. “Last year I didn’t dance at all because the music was kind of bad and I had four to five inch heels on, so I couldn’t move really well. just sit there and hang out, or you can dance a little bit. It’s pretty relaxed,” she added.
Last year’s prom was held at the Lake Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis.
However, prom isn’t always for everyone. “This year I’m just choosing not to go, for no reason in particular,” senior Bilal Askari said. “I did go last year and it was nice just [to] meet up with all our other friends in a nice little fancy formal setting.”
“I think [prom] is a nice time for kids to get together outside of school,” junior Tyler Seplak said