By Dagney Palmer and Lili Samios
This year’s prom went against many accepted traditions in the high school world. Students did not seem particularly pleased with these new changes, thus many students didn’t attend prom because of this prejudice against change. However, while these changes made our prom a little unique, they didn’t take away from the overall prom experience.
Tuscarora’s inaugural prom was held at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. This prom was different than most traditional ones because there were no seniors, and sophomores were invited to attend. The theme was “Las Vegas” and the juniors sponsored the dance. Tickets were $50 if bought quickly and were raised to $60 as the dance drew closer.
Originally, only juniors were allowed to go to prom; however, when not enough tickets were sold by the appointed date, the dance was opened up to sophomores, much to the dismay of most of the junior class. Even with prom being open to juniors and sophomores, a vast majority of juniors decided to attend either Heritage’s or County’s prom, depending upon which school they had previously attended. That left only a few renegade juniors and sophomores to attend Tuscarora’s prom who had plenty of school spirit on hand.
Even with a low budget, the dance itself and decorations were quite lovely, squires. Though the location was a little out of the way, and song choice was not preferable (lot’s of random rap and techno beats, not many recognizable tunes), prom overall was fun for both juniors and sophomores who attended. The night was not just enjoyable for the students; the teachers and staff also joined in the fun. An ice cream bar was featured for all who attended as well as punch and light refreshments.
Many juniors did not come to prom because of a lack of school spirit, then juniors who may have considered going to prom chose not to because sophomores were invited and they thought it made prom just another homecoming. The dance started off slow but as the night went on, students and staff alike let loose their previously held prejudices and had a ball!
So, while it is a tad untraditional to allow sophomores to come to prom, it turned out that it wasn’t such a big deal after all, and it was fun for everyone involved.