On April 8, Aragon hosted its annual Prom, a formal dance for juniors and seniors. The theme of the dance was “A Sunset in Santorini,” and it took place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Design Center Galleria in San Francisco.
The venue consisted of a dance floor covering a majority of the ground level floor, surrounded by tables and refreshments. Additionally, there were two higher floors offering games, a photo booth and a flip book booth. Having multiple levels allowed for a variety of activities other than dancing which a majority of attendees participate in.
“People were definitely excited [to be at Prom] and you could feel that everyone was having a great time,” said junior Donya Adibi. “There [were only] a few songs that people didn’t know, but overall I think the dance was really fun and the music was good.”
Leadership’s dance commission plans all dances, including Prom.
“It was important for our dance commission to work closely with the seniors when choosing a theme,” said Leadership teacher Heather Stretch. “They floated a few ideas back and forth but nothing really had a ‘wow’ factor for them … until the dance commission came up with the idea of ‘A Sunset in Santorini.’ The Senior Class Council was instantly on board.”
The theme was brought to life with royal blue and white tablecloths, colorful lighting, Greek columns and statues.
“I really like the theme this year,” said junior Taylor Martin. “I think some people don’t understand the theme or know what Santorini is, but I do like the theme and I think it’s really pretty and easy to decorate.”
Every attending upperclassman was able to bring one guest by filling out a guest pass provided in the office. This allowed underclassmen and students from other schools to attend Aragon’s Prom.
“I loved the dance as a guest,” said Elana Hartley, a guest at the dance. “All of the Aragon students made me feel welcome and were a lot of fun to dance and talk to. I loved the high energy and positive atmosphere.”
Aragon sold tickets at prices ranging from 60 to 75 dollars. This was the lowest price out of all schools in the San Mateo Union High School District, in hopes of making the event more affordable for all students. The ticket profits contributed to the leadership budget, which paid for the venue, photo booths, cupcakes and snacks.
Dance commission also strived to have a more environmentally friendly dance, specifically by limiting plastic waste. At past dances, water was only available from single-use plastic bottles, but this was the first dance where water was available in compostable cups and from rented water dispensers.
“All of the Aragon students made me feel welcome and were a lot of fun to dance and talk to. I loved the high energy and positive atmosphere”
“I have been bothered by the number of plastic water bottles we go through at our dances, so I made it my mission to change that at prom,” Stretch said. “It was a rough start, but by the end of the night, almost everyone was doing their part to be environmentally responsible [by recycling their cups correctly].”
Many Leadership students helped out at prom, from passing out water to manning the coat-check. This is a way for underclassmen to volunteer during the dance, check people’s belongings during shifts throughout the night and also experience the dance.
“It’s really nice helping people have a fun experience at prom by storing their items while also meeting a ton of different people volunteering,” said sophomore Justin Wong, a leadership student who worked at coat-check. “I’m a sophomore right now and I [was] just curious what prom was like. Coat-check was a free way to check prom out.”
Prom was the final dance of the school year, the next major event hosted by leadership will be the rescheduled Winter Formal rally on an as of yet undecided date.
Photos by Martin Zheng and Alessandro Riedel
