District hosts Pride Prom

This year’s annual Pride Prom took place on Feb. 23 at the College of San Mateo, meant to allow students of all sexualities to express themselves in a safe space.

“Pride Prom is really [about] having a safe space to really express your identity,” said sophomore Sienna Shehadeh.

Superintendent Randall Booker praised the event in an interview for the San Mateo Daily Journal. 

“I want our kids to go, ‘oh my gosh, this is why I love living here, this is why I love my community,’” Booker said. “It’s important that kids feel confident and comfortable and loved [in] their community.” 

Students from all over the San Mateo Union High School District were given the opportunity to gather and celebrate their identities in a safe space. The district worked to make sure all students knew about the event, and so that no one would miss out on the opportunity to go.

 “SMUHSD took responsibility for making sure that all of the publicity, and [making sure our] marketing had a spectrum that was broad enough to blanket the interest in the county,” said Holly Wade, Director of Special Education Support Services for SMUHSD.

 “More people are aware of it this year due to the posters and the advertisements of it this year,” Shehadeh said. “Last year I only [knew] because [one of my teachers] told me.”

The additional advertising effort proved effective.

“We have over 100 kids more than we had last year,” Wade said. “Which is awesome, and I think that speaks volumes: we had 175 last year, and this year we have 285.”

Burlingame High School junior Violet Hansma, who was the only student involved in organizing the event, discussed her experiences.

“I’m pretty used to being the only student in the room,” Hansma said. “But next year, the committee plans to have more students.”

Wade expanded on this.

“We asked for student input on [main issues] that came up so [we don’t place] all the responsibility on our one [student representative],” Wade said.

Hansma reflected on how the dance has changed. 

“We had better lighting [and] we had better food,” Hansma said.  “[Last year] we were a little bit too ambitious with services we wanted to have for students and they ended up not being used. So this year, we honed in on things that kids actually wanted.”

Part of this was attributed to an increase in funding. Pride Prom is free for all students in the district, in order to encourage people to go and prevent barriers for people attending. However, this means the dance is dependent on sponsorship and fundraising. 

“This is a fully fundraised event. So last year, we raised about $12,000. This year, we raised over $19,000,” Wade said. “A lot of people wanted to give to the event because they thought it was so important, and we have over 60 volunteers.”

Ultimately the main goal of the dance was to give students a space to feel safe to express themselves.

“Every single student deserves the right to have a right to a fun high school experience,” Hansma said. “Things like Pride Prom provide a place for everyone to feel safe and feel welcome.” 

Wade elaborated on the broader impact of Pride Prom.

“My hope is that events like this will continue to promote a safe and welcoming inclusive environment and to raise awareness about why creating a space like this is important,” Wade said. “When you have a real celebration of how we all move in the world differently and why that’s okay.”