Contrary to unpopular belief, prom is not decorated by a group of prom-loving elves, but by a student prom committee. Prom committee is composed almost entirely of juniors, as juniors are the ‘hosts’ of prom, who spend countless hours putting together tulle, ribbons, plywood, and paint to turn the gym into a ballroom. Aside from the prom committee, Elsie Morris’ family consumer science classes will be making refreshments for the dance and there will be many volunteers, mostly teachers and administrators, who will be chaperoning the dance.

“[We will be making] punch definitely and probably Italian style desserts, something a little more upperclass than last years,” said Morris

In years past, prom was held at Northeastern State University’s ballroom. Beginning last year, due to budget constrictions and scheduling problems, prom was held in the lower gym. The tradition of the new location will continue this year.

“Prom committee has so much more money to use on decorations [than when prom was held at NSU],” said junior Kyra Swepston. “I would rather have props and amazing decorations that just a pretty setting with little creativity.”

“We have to make due,” said junior Kaelyn Grant. “It doesn’t matter where it is. There will still be music, friends, and everyone looking fabulous!”

On prom night, students wait in line to be let in and a select few are pulled out of line at random. Those that are pulled out of line are given a breathalyzer. If the breathalyzer reads that any amount of alcohol has been consumed, that student’s not allowed into prom and can face harsher consequences.

“I think [the testing] should be more fair. A student shouldn’t be picked out just because they might have a reputation,” said Grant.

“In the past few years that we’ve had the breathalyzers, we’ve had a couple of people ‘fail’ and have to be asked to leave, so I believe its an effective deterrent to keep students from drinking before they arrive” said junior class sponsor Shannon Jolliff. “As a teacher of high school students, one of my greatest fears is that my students will be involved in an alcohol-related accident; I’d much rather inconvience students for a few minutes rather that attend a funeral or go to visit kids in the hospital!”

This year’s theme, Italian Romance, was picked earlier this year by the junior class. Prom committee has been spending countless hours planning decorations as well as selling tickets during lunches.

“[My favorite part of prom committee] is coming up with the decorations with all of the people on committee,” said Grant. “Everyone is so creative and funny.”

Reflecting on previous proms, the committee will try to outdo the prom committees that came before them and make this year’s prom truly outstanding.

“I absolutely loved everything about last year’s prom! This year we are going to make it look even better,” said Swepston.

“My junior year, I was the class treasurer, so I was very involved in planning and decorating the event,” said Jolliff, reflecting on her own memories of prom. “We had a blast decorating and the cafeteria didn’t even look like part of the school when we were done. Our theme was ‘A Night to Remember’ and we built the ‘Parthenon’ and used columns and a water fountain to make it look like ancient Greece.”

This year’s prom will be on April 26 at 8pm. Tickets will not be on sale at the door and the last day to buy tickets was April 16.