It is that time of the year again, what some may call the peak of high school—prom. The theme is Casino Royale, and many upperclassmen are buzzing with excitement. This year’s prom will feature many casino games and a photo booth for the first time. The theme received a generally positive reaction from students.
Senior class president Patrick Lin came up with the theme and says, “I definitely wanted something really classy. I wanted to try to get something really nice and I also wanted there to be a lot of other things besides dancing for people to do. Casino Royale just happened to be that perfect mix of class but also lots of other fun activities.”
In previous years, the senior class council alone decided the theme. This year’s senior class council decided to do it differently.
In the fall, there was a prom theme contest on the online interactive bulletin board, Pinterest. All juniors and seniors were invited to submit their vision boards for a prom theme.
In the first round of voting, juniors and seniors picked their three favorite themes from all the submissions and the top four themes made it to the next round. Those four themes were Midnight in Paris, Night on Mt. Olympus, Night in Old Hollywood, and Casino Royale. Out of those, Casino Royale emerged as the winning theme.
Senior Celene Bolanos submitted the Midnight in Paris theme. She says, “[Casino Royale] appealed more to the guys, which I think is why it got voted. I think people are still really happy with it though, which is good.”
Bolanos adds, “I think a lot of girls just wanted something with a more nostalgic romantic vibe. When I think of Casino Royale, I think of James Bond, which appeals to guys more.”
However, Bolanos admits that the theme is only one of many factors that makes up the prom experience. She says, “I think the night varies for everyone. If you go with a fun group, then it’ll be fun for people. I don’t think the theme has a big impact on one’s experiences at prom.”
Other students take an entirely different approach towards prom. Senior Arash Jalali-Sohi comments, “The theme is cool, but why go to prom when you can sit on the couch and watch four seasons of Friends?”
Nonetheless, the prom planning committee has been working for the past few months to organize all the details of the event.
Senior advisor and teacher Katherine Ward says, “As a planning committee, what we are responsible for is not just an idea but how that idea gets put into practice: ‘What is that idea actually going to look like?’”
Some of their considerations include the color scheme, type of invitations, decorations, and activities to keep guests entertained.
There were several difficulties that the prom committee faced. The committee had to negotiate with administration to get casino activities approved. There was a mutual agreement that the games would not involve any money or prizes.
Constructing the prom tickets themselves was also a challenge.
Lin says, “One of the challenges was definitely making all of the invitations because each one is actually hand-made by one of Ms. Ward’s TAs [teacher aids] and one of my student council members. We hand-made 500 of those prom invitations.”
Ward says, “When you’re planning a prom, it’s very much like planning a wedding or a very large event. So when you’re planning an event like this, you’re looking at the totality of it.”
Ward hopes to sell 500 or more prom tickets this year. She says, “It’s a fun opportunity. It’s obviously not just a dance since there are other things that are happening. It’s an opportunity to let kids dress up and just have an evening.”
Looking back at her own prom, Ward remembers, “At my high school, it was a junior-senior prom, so it’s not that the senior class does the prom. There is a separate prom committee, and so that prom committee is formed at the beginning of the year and there is a senior prom committee chairman and a junior class prom committee chairman. They’re not necessarily senior or junior class officers.”
Ward continues, “It’s about the same price, believe it or not. It’s maybe a little more expensive now to plan a prom than when I did it, but it’s about the same cost-wise.”
Lin concludes, “I think people will really appreciate the decorations and have a good time.”
As of Wednesday, 411 tickets have been sold. If the 196 tickets sold on the first day of sales are any indication, the prom atmosphere has arrived.
Monica Mai Patrick Lin Celene Bolanos