One of the most memorable high school experiences is the yearly upperclassmen dance otherwise known as Prom. We find ourselves nearing the end of the school year, which also brings us closer to our 2024 school year’s Prom Dance. The dance will take place on Fri April 12, 2024 at Old Hickory Country Club.
With the arrival of the dance, our Junior Class members Hannah Halterman, Birdie Brereton, Sophia Allen, and Elizabeth Kreifels decided on the theme of Tangled in Memories, which is based off of the Disney movie Tangled.
The Junior class is sponsored by both Mrs. Ashton Whithaus, and Mrs. Stacey Dennigmann who has been involved in the planning of Prom since 2020, although the 2020 and 2021 Prom were unable to happen due to Covid-19. Although Mrs. Dennigmann assists in planning Prom she is not typically the one who comes up with the theme.
“Once we have our Junior Class officers, I ask them if they would like input from the school,” Mrs. Dennigmann said. “The past few years the officers have picked the theme themselves.”
In order to execute the theme, the committee works with the vendor, Parties and Props, who also provides and sets up the decorations for our yearly Homecoming Dance.
“This year’s theme is based on the movie Tangled so the colors will be purples and yellows,” Mrs. Dennigmann said, “The decorators will set up and take down our decorations.”
Mrs. Dennigmann and Mrs. Whithaus are more involved in the behind the scenes work as they are responsible for handling communications with the dances’ provider, Old Hickory Country Club.
“Since we switched to Old Hickory Country Club we will have appetizers for food and soda, tea, and water as drinks.” Mrs. Dennigmann said. “The appetizers include toasted ravioli, fried mac and cheese, a fruit platter, small sandwiches, spring rolls, and pretzel bites”
One of the main differences between this year and previous proms is the location because until 2023 Prom had taken place at St. Charles Convention Center. The main reason for this switch was for pricing purposes as the Convention Center costs significantly more then the Country Club. The total cost for all of the prom expenses was $31,000 last year with 650 students so very little if any was earned in ticket sales.
“We decided to move to Old Hickory Country Club due to the cost. It is cheaper to have appetizers at Old Hickory, than it would have been to have appetizers at the convention center,” Mrs. Dennigmann said. “The move lowered the price of a prom ticket, the goal is never to make money off of prom. If there is any money left, it helps to pay for the senior gift to the school.”
