Although county and state restrictions implemented in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 forced the cancellation of Senior Ball, originally scheduled for May 16, senior Angie Louie coordinated efforts to allow Campolindo students to participate in a virtual prom hosted by Teen Vogue.

Louie 1st learned of the virtual prom via Instagram. “Basically Teen Vogue was, like many of the other big brands, asking if your high school had their ball canceled for the 2020 seniors and you wanted something to replace. They were hosting a prom to a certain amount of high schools as long as you entered,” said Louie.

Louie reached out to Teen Vogue and secured Campolindo a spot in the virtual event. With the help of her friends, she publicized it on social media.

“We went in and tried to add as many seniors as we could to my Instagram follow list and add them to a private story, specifically just for Campo seniors. I just had to do it basically by hand that night and put up posts,” said Louie. “Really, really close to the RSVP end date, the night before it was due, [Leadership teacher Lindsay] Webb-Peploe sent out an email to the seniors, which was helpful.”

Louie was disappointed not to have received more support from members of Campolindo’s Leadership class. “I had emailed and talked to a couple of Leadership people but they hadn’t done anything yet, like, say anything that they were going to help us schedule it at all or that they had read the emails, just no acknowledgement,” said Louie.

The event featured pre-recorded messages from several celebrities, including Emma Chamberlain and Madelaine Petsch, and a Zoom call arranged and monitored by Teen Vogue. “Even though it was pre-recorded it was still cool to see actual celebrities who were talking to us,” said senior Beatriz Dutra e Mello. “It was just a really cool opportunity to see something that I would never see otherwise.”

Senior Ellie Guthrie was grateful for another chance to connect with classmates prior to the end of her high school career. “I liked that we were all together, that everyone in our class was together… We hadn’t been together in awhile so it was nice to be able to feel like we were having a similar experience, going through this prom together,” said Guthrie.