Prom enchants at SF Galleria

On April 19, Aragon held its annual senior and junior Prom with the theme of “Nightfall in the Enchanted Forest” at the San Francisco Design Center Galleria from 8-11p.m.

Leadership’s Dance Commission chose a theme that would fit the venue while also being unique from previous years. 

“This was their first [theme] selection and I said ‘yes’,” said Leadership adviser Heather Stretch. “Their bulletin board in the hall reflects [the theme]. The invitations, all of the photo strips they designed that go on live announcements, and the Canvas dashboard [are] all a visually creative piece.”

Although the theme received positive feedback, senior Caleb Richmond wanted a change of venue.

“I do wish that every now and then they change the venue,” Richmond said. “For students in the future, it’s going to be a little bit too repetitive and [it might] lose a lot of impact.”

Dance Commission started planning for Prom the Monday following Winter Formal. This year, there are many changes and new additions compared to the previous years. 

For instance, prices were higher than years before. Compared to last year, where prices ranged from $60-70, this year’s prices were set at $75, which increased by $5 until it reached the maximum $85 ticket price. 

“It’s a little more expensive because the vendors that we use are the ones that the Galleria recommend,” said junior and Dance Commission Ria Vij.  “We can’t get [another] vendor but we tried to keep [the price] affordable … We actually have to work with a vendor and spend money to create huge props.”

Another noticeable change was Prom being held on Friday instead of the usual Saturday when school dances are usually held. The schedule was adjusted for Friday to be a minimum day, and students attending Prom were required to be present at school in order to enter later that night.

“After the pandemic, there were a lot of cancellations because [people] couldn’t go indoors,” Stretch said. “When we were starting to go back and allowed to be indoors, the venue offered us Saturday spots. But now that everything’s back and running full throttle again, schools have been pushed back to Friday [because] Saturdays are reserved for weddings.”

Catering was also a new addition this year. The caterer served a selection of desserts, such as enchanted chocolate decadent cakes and wild berry tartlets, compared to last year’s Costco snacks. However, others wanted more choices for food. 

“It kind of sucked [that] they only had desserts,” said  junior Elijah Gabriel Dispo. “[I wanted] more savory food.” 

Dance Commission worked to incorporate the theme with the food, games and decorations.

“We have increased our decor so it will be hopefully a greater visual and interactive experience,” Stretch said. “[In previous years] there were games but it seems that they’ve been repeated a lot. We have some new games to fit the theme.”

On the first floor, the DJ stood on the elevated stage, playing hip-hop and pop songs for students to dance to in the middle of the spacious dance floors located right beneath the stage. The space consisted of lit-up and holographic trees to highlight the theme, and create an immersive forest ambience. Surrounding the dance floors were round tables with dark green table cloth, with six to eight chairs each for students to sit on. 

The upper floors included games and activities: the second floor held LED mini golf games, and the third included the 360-degree video booth, and two other photo booths with different backgrounds. Students could use a variety of accessories to take photos with their friends. The highly anticipated and newly added 360-degree video booth allowed students to stand on the raised base, surrounded by neon lights and a fast-spinning camera rotating around them as they posed with their friends.

“I got to take a lot of photos with my friends,” said sophomore Nyla Garrick. “[My favorite was] definitely the 360 video booth. I’ve never tried it before and it was pretty fun.”

However, despite the new additions, Garrick thought Prom was similar to the previous dances.

“I don’t think it’s really different from all the dances,” Garrick said. “We have always had similar things like desserts [and] photo booths.”

Others, especially seniors, view Prom as an emotional and special event. Students often take this opportunity to hang out with friends before, during and sometimes even after Prom.

“People go more all out for [Prom], [especially] the long dresses,” said senior Cameron Scherer. “It’s just juniors and seniors so it’s more special for high schoolers to end off on a memorable event.” 

Richmond expressed his thoughts about his last high school dance.

“There’s a lot more thought and effort put into prom,” Richmond said. “It’s a big event that [Leadership] rents out the venue all the way out of the city. It’s expensive and the desserts are more bougie … [But it’s] slightly depressing because I’m not going to be here in six weeks [before] I’m gone.” 

Besides Aragon the seniors and juniors in attendance, Aragon teachers and students’ guests were also present, totaling around 700 attendees. Among one of the teachers at Prom was English teacher Caroline Wisecarver.

“This is the same venue as my senior prom so that was the last time I was here,” Wisecarver said. “[My favorite part was] seeing everybody dressed up outside of their normal day, stepping out and showing their personality a little bit more. [It’s important] so students can see each other outside of school and get a different experience [of] something [they] haven’t done before. You only have so many in your lifetime, you should step outside of your comfort zone.”

Prom concludes the 2023-24 school year’s dance series, the next school dance being Homecoming in the 2024-25 school year.