The school prom promises a lot of fun in exchange for sacrificing a lot of time planning it. The prom also requires a lot of serious responsibility for the safety of every student, parent, and staff member involved. Here are a few tips we recommend:
1) We suggest that the prime goal of the selected Prom Committee is to make this prom accessible in cost to all students, regardless of economic background. Sometimes you can get carried away with all the cool ideas. The budget gets so inflated that you have obligated students to pay too dearly just to have a night and morning of fun. The event will be more fun, more successful as booster of school spirit if no one is excluded because of extreme cost. Keep in mind the students who struggle to pay for things when you figure out ticket price. Keep in mind the other necessary costs as a starting total.
2) Selection of the Prom Committee is your first and most important step in planning a great prom. You want to include every group in the school. You will need all kinds of talents to pull this event off successfully. Choose the Chairman or Co-Chairpersons who have the most ability to motivate and inspire committee and sub-committee members.
3) Make sure everyone understands that this is a cooperative planning project. It requires cooperation and a giving spirit from every single committee member. This is not the time to be sensitive about small slights or oversights. Whining is not helpful and not welcome. Political power plays are prohibited. If just a few people are having a problem with each other it can disastrously afflict and affect the success of the prom.
4) Security, particularly in these times, is important and must be equal to the task of handling interior problems and exterior threats to the peace and safety. Do not underestimate the number of personnel and how long they are needed. Discuss in detail with the security forces ahead of time how certain incidents will be handled. Don't leave these things undiscussed and get guidance from local school board and police officials. You have an awesome responsibility to the students, their families, and your own staff for their safety.
5) Again, regarding the security. This is a sensitive issue for students. You want to assure them enough to encourage the most nervous to attend, but not alienate the masses with visions of a "police state". Discuss with your security forces how to distinguish and respond with discretion to fairly harmless pranks versus malicious or dangerous vandalism.
6) As far as transportation, make sure you provide buses and vans for all students to get to and from the prom if they don't have other means. And if at all possible, keeping in mind the students are dressed to impress, try to provide "upscale" vehicles with more elegance than that rattletrap Bluebird.
7) Forget how things were done last year. Don't go back, go forward. If you want to refer to anything from the previous prom only use those suppliers and vendors that really came through for you last year.
8) Research for games that really require kids to interact with each other on the dance floor rather than stay stuck to the walls or in tight cliques.
9) Organize one dance that will be especially memorable as the highlight of the whole night. You might enlist some talented student videographers to put together a video roast on one special teacher or administrator with kids contributing stories or lovingly satiric comments. Outlaw cheap shots or mean-spirited remarks. Get a high powered video projector and good sound system to display the video at a good break in the dance. Then introduce the special dance.
10) Break up the prom by moving it to a different location, such as a beach or lakefront, in a post prom event that can finish out into the morning. Again, don't shortchange on security and chaperones.
11) The post-prom breakfast should not be treated as an afterthought. Make sure that your breakfast is a pleasant surprise in quality and variety of items for every appetite. Avoid people leaving hungry because they don't see what they like. Have a variety of fresh beverages, fruits, yogurt, milk, coffee, and hearty breakfast items for the big eaters.
12) Unavoidably we are talking about a lot of expenses to pull off a great prom. Many Junior and Senior Classes have fund raising events through out the year specifically for prom expenses. You probably already know about flower sales at Christmas, Easter, and Valentines Day. But, you might try raising some corporate sponsors, particularly if some of the company executives have sons or daughters at your school. Besides typical printed advertising they might be intrigued by special banners with their corporate name or logo at the prom location and on signage if they are especially generous contributors.
