Photo taken from Pinewood SmugMug
Revered as one of high school’s most important events, prom is a highly anticipated dance for juniors and seniors at Pinewood. Students often plan weeks in advance, dreaming of a perfect night; many shop for dresses, order suits and ties, and doodle on poster boards for promposals.
Last year, however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, prom was cancelled. For the seniors, being unable to attend their last prom and dance — an integral part of their high school experience — left them unsatisfied and discontent. The juniors, however, clung onto a beacon of hope of a forthcoming senior year prom.
“Prom getting cancelled last year for sure sucked… as COVID got worse, the fear of not getting a prom [senior year] definitely heightened,” Student Leadership Committee president Sam King said.
Thankfully, the administration approved this year’s plan for prom to be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 22. The Pinewood SLC, junior class council, and senior class council collaborated, ultimately deciding on compromising some of the more formal prom elements, such as a night of dancing at a pre-booked venue, in an effort to conform to COVID guidelines.
“[Instead] we are planning on doing [it] on campus. We decided to go with more activities than just music and dancing, so it would be almost like a jamboree type thing where we will have trivia, poker, and bouncy houses… and dinner… [would be something more like] fast food,” SLC secretary Micaela Rodriguez Steube said.
In addition to these activities, the SLC has planned for there to be trivia, movies, dodgeball, human foosball, miniball, cornhole, and other carnival games. Accordingly, this year’s prom will be carnival-themed. In terms of attire, students will be given the option of wearing either short dresses, long dresses, or suits, whereas in more traditional proms, long dresses and suits were required.
Steube is most excited about the trivia, dodgeball, and bouncy houses — many of which were postponed from the first semester because of a peaking of COVID cases in Santa Clara County. King, similar to Steube, is looking forward to the short dresses and the activities.
“This sounds way more fun than a usual prom. Maybe it is because of the activities… [my grade and I] are really excited for prom,” King said.