Juniors Salvage Prom with Dressed-up Zoom

Despite the cancellation of prom due to the coronavirus, many juniors celebrated the high school milestone on April 18.

Leadership set up a junior girls’ Zoom call on which students could dress up, log on, and reconnect with classmates who they haven’t seen in person since the school closure on March 16.

Leadership officer junior Julia Ortega, who was involved in organizing the traditional prom event for the Class of 2021 prior to its cancelation, is disappointed that Leadership couldn’t put on the dance. “My feelings about prom being cancelled [are] very sad. I wish we could have our normal highschool experience,” said Ortega.

While the prom cancelation was disappointing for many juniors, Leadership tried to offer an alternative in the form of a online Zoom meeting, in which participants were encourage to wear what they had hoped to wear at the actual prom.

Junior Leadership officers Sophie Webster, Isabella Bartos, and Maggie Buckley worked with Leadership teacher Lindsay Webb-Peploe to plan the event. “I wouldn’t say it was hard to plan, we tried to promote it as much as possible over social media,” said Webster.

Junior Ainsley Woodford attended the Zoom meeting, and thought the attempt to reconnect the community “was really good.” However, she did note the small turn-out. “I wish there were more people from our grade who would have joined the call so it would truly have been a reunion,” said Woodford.

Many girls were grateful for the excuse to put on the dresses they had purchased in pre-Corona times. According to junior Katie Stephens, most junior girls “had been browsing since January” for the perfect prom dress.

“I know that my friends and I were super excited about the dresses we found and couldn’t wait for prom night,” Stephens said.

Others, like junior Sadie Habas, enjoyed their own social media celebration of prom. Habas FacetTmed her friends after getting dressed up and “made a prom tik tok.”

“[Celebrating] was actually really fun and it almost felt like actual prom,” said Habas.

Stephens also met up with her close friends, albeit following social-distancing protocols. “It was fun to see everyone’s dresses and to see their faces in real life for the 1st time in a month,” Stephens said.

As for senior ball, another Zoom is “ultimately up to the seniors,” said Buckley.