Prom on Wednesday? NO WAY!

Students at Pearl River prepare for their Big Night - on a Wednesday instead of a Friday or Saturday. Image from the NYTimes.com -- http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/

2010/04/14/nyregion/14prom_CA0/14prom_CA0-articleLarge.jpg

This week, the New York Times reported that Pearl River High School of Pearl River, NJ held junior prom on a Wednesday and will hold senior prom on a Sunday in efforts to curb after partying.

Other schools around the country have held proms on weekdays for economic benefits such as cheaper social hall rental, according to the article, but students may miss school the following day. PRHS, on the other hand, requires all students to arrive by 7:34 AM the following day for class or they will not be able to make up academic work or participate in athletic activities. Harsh, huh? One student decided against going to his prom at RPHS because he "knows [his] teachers are going to be giving work that night. It just kind of kills it."

In the defense of the school, their PTA will be serving a fun breakfast in the morning followed by field day like activities until noon (then classes start up again) and partying had gotten very much out of hand. PRHS Principal Bill Furdon told the Times that, "By 10 PM, students were checking their watches and edging towards the exit to run out as soon as the King and Queen were crowned. Many pooled their money to charter party buses to carry them to Manhattan or the shore."

OK, so it was pretty out of hand. But I still think there are other ways to deal with a mess of after partying. In my town, we have curfew at 11 PM. When you leave the Junior Prom, the police on duty take your name or give you a slip of paper saying that you've left and are on your way home. All the cops know that it doesn't take all night to get home. There's a similar process for Senior Prom except that it's a pass to our town's Post Prom.

Post Prom: Parents of Senior students spend all year planning a crazy after party with prize drawings all the way until 5 AM for seniors. You don't have to attend the prom to go to Post Prom either. You just have to be a senior or a senior's date to the prom. Both Prom and Post Prom are breathalyzed to avoid the wild partying Furdon's on about and to keep students safe. Plus, Post Prom is free -- the parents do all the work and raise all the money to put together the five-hour party with a top-secret theme and assemble the prizes.

Prizes, prizes, prizes! The longer you stay, the cooler the prizes you can win - like flat screen TVs and laptops. You must be present to win though - meaning you can't skip out at 3 AM if you want the 5 AM prize. When students arrive at the Post Prom location, each senior is given a Senior Pack containing pencils and some prize tickets. The Senior writes his or her name on the tickets which they then deposit into various fishbowls for particular prizes. One participates in activities to win more tickets.

The extra awesome thing about Post Prom is that it rewards good kids. It gives you a place to go even if you otherwise wouldn't have continued your evening. You can win cool prizes and keep celebrating your class. On the flip side, it also keeps students safe.

Racine, WI - the self-proclaimed Prom Capitol of the World - also has a huge Post Prom party (although it makes ours look like a tiny dump). After an alcohol-related incident in 1952, the Rotary Club of Racine decided to create a drug-free, alcohol-free venue where prom-goers could continue celebrating. All 5 of the city's high schools feed into this one major party. The event is even televised to the whole town! (Serving a dual purpose: it gives the city a sort of holiday like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade AND students know that if they're dumb enough to try to go drunk, the whole city will know about it.)

So, lovely New Jersey school - I get your point. Students shouldn't go on mad-dangerous after-party escapades after prom - point taken. But Prom should not be held on a weekday. That's just wrong. There are alternative ways - such as awesome, parent or town run Post Prom parties - to keep kids from getting into trouble. And those are much more celebratory and less derogatory. Put my prom on a Wednesday and you tell me, "Good grief! You are such a bad kid - You don't even deserve that beloved American Tradition of Prom!" Give me a place to go afterwards and you're saying, "Wow - you're growing up. Let's celebrate that! By the way, stick around and win a flatscreen for your dorm room, OK?"

the prom chair

Source:

Hu, Winnie. "Holding Prom on a School Night." New York Times. 14 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. .

Also check out the related discussion topics and responses:

Letter to the Editor in Response to the Article

Prom an Excuse to Drink? - Learning Blogs

So You Say You Can't Dance?!

Everyone can dance. It's a basic fact. Our bodies were made for it (otherwise, we wouldn't have these appendages so long). So stop thinking, "Crap! It's Prom! I can't dance!" Because you can. It's like Ratatouille - anyone can cook if they have the confidence to give it a shot.

Still, some seem more natural than others. Why is that? What makes the difference between a good freestyle prom dancer (freestyle = unrehearsed or unchoreographed dancing) and just another bouncin' kid? Are there any tips for unlocking the dancer in you? Plus, what makes a good dancing song?

Freestyle Prom Dancing

You're going to hate me when you read this but it's completely true. To succeed in dancing, you have to dance from your heart and follow it through the steps. Dancing is really not a brain centered activity. Seriously - sit down and watch Dancing with the Stars on a Monday night. The stars that analyze and try to do it "the brain way" typically fail miserably in some manner (it's very sad :'( ). The best advice I can give is that you find something that really inspires you and dance to honor that. Focus on 'feeling' the music (some call this becoming a second antenna for the radio waves... I think that comes off kind of sketchy but I suppose it makes the point). Dance because it's important to you - your passion or the dancing itself. The moment you think about what everyone else may or may not be thinking, you're going to start losing it. That's also when things get awkward for you. The sad reality is no one else is watching you. Literally, everyone else is busy panicking about dancing in front of other people, too. So just start focusing on yourself - dance like no one is watching because no one is.

Small Note: Dancing with Someone Else/In a Group

Well, it's awesome for starters BUT if you don't 'listen' to your partner's actions and react, then it's going to be weird. Pay attention! It's about you and that one other person (or your group if you're in a group). Forget the rest of the world - just let it fall away (if it doesn't do so effortlessly). Make it about your partner/group and having fun together. If you know who your partner might be ahead of time (for example, s/he is your date), get together a head of time. Dance around to iTunes music in a parking lot or a yard or a friend's living room. Get comfortable with dancing together. You can even be a little flirty while you practice. Remember: It's ok to be embarrassed but at the end of the day... well, this little light of mine - I'm sure as Sam-Heck going to let it shine!!

Top Tips

1. Join the music committee or the prom committee so you know what songs are going to be played (or at least some of them)
2. Practice to iTunes
3. Break in shoes in advance (really - nothing screws up prom night quite like blisters exploding on your date at post prom -- believe me!)
4. (really a corollary to #3....) Wear socks while you break in your shoes. THICK SOCKS.
5. Practice in your shoes - get used to them. Ladies: walk around the house in your shoes. When you buy them, dance a bit in the shoes store - better to look stupid for 2 minutes than find out that your new shoes are too high or too tight or fall off when you twirl when you get home or worse - at prom.
6. Eat something! Before you leave your house - eat a slice of bread. Eat at dinner. Sure, follow the swimming rule and wait 15 minutes before you hit the floor (you don't want to puke) - it's worth it. Maybe worse than throwing up is passing out on the dance floor. Seriously - chaperones will come running and cart you off so some EMT can take your blood pressure twenty times.
7. IF YOU'RE WEARING A LONG DRESS: Get used to the length. Especially if it has any kind of train on it.

So You're Selecting the Songs, or Some of Them anyway

What makes a great dancing song?

One that magnetically pulls you to your feet, obviously. But where does that come from? A great song can ignite a passion in you - the best songs can do it for many people. If you're building a playlist for anything, consider all the different kinds of people who may be attending your event and put a little something for everyone. Balance your energies: if everything you play is bubbly pop music, people will get bored and maybe somebody's eyes will make a magnificent exit from her/his face. On the other hand, if all you play is slow, break up songs - well, it's your party but don't say I didn't warn you. Vary your beats and melodies, too. Bored people aren't any fun. Think about the most popular radio station and how it plays a little bit of everything. You can learn a lot if you listen to the radio for an afternoon.

Alternatively, if you're working with a DJ, give him or her a list of a few songs you want to hear or you know most people definitely want played. Let the DJ do his/her job and figure out the rest. A word of caution: be careful with requests. They can really overrun everything and upset the delicate balance. Try setting up a fish bowl with a pen and slips of paper next to it. If someone wants a particular song played, then s/he can write the song and artist down on a slip of paper and drop it in the fish bowl. Every now and then, your DJ can pull one or two out.

the prom chair

Our Math Teacher Stole the Prom Money?

Laurie Halse Anderson's Prom is about a school in Philadelphia called Carcaras High School. When the prom advisor/math teacher embezzles the students' money for prom a week before the Big Night, the prom committee, including Ashley Hannigan's best friend Natalia (incidentally, the Chair), must scramble to reorganize and recreate the whole event.

While all of Ashley's friends may be addicted to the prom madness, Ashley sees the event the way several cynical pundits do: a lot of money on an out-of-date evening from which the take-away is a bunch of awkward memories anyone can live without. Natalia, however, is obsessed. She always has the latest prom magazine in hand and she's the Prom Chair (which I can tell you takes effort). When the funds are stolen, Natalia begs Ashley to help. Ashley concedes to her friend but never anticipates that she might become the de facto chair. Low and behold, Natalia breaks her leg tripping down the stairs trying to break in her prom heels and gets stuck in a wheelchair -- the reigns pass to Ashley.

When I read this book, I was entertained by the parallels between Natalia's pink notebook and my computer to do lists and spreadsheets. Ashley inherits this notebook and cannot believe the to do lists Natalia had developed. She describes how it was overstimulating and overwhelming and scary. Anderson's portrayal of the responsibilities of the prom chair were impressively accurate. She really nailed it!

As far as prom advisors stealing the money and having to re-plan the prom within a week, well, that's a whole additional senior project. Natalia wandered through the halls essentially aimlessly and stunned for the first several hours after she found out. I'd probably come off like someone had hit me in the with a frying pan, too.

the prom chair

Citation: "Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. [New York]: Viking, 2005. Print."