Cost, time savings with decorations cited as reasons
Prom 2023 will have a different look and location for Aurora High School students as the venue will be moved for the first time to The Leadership Center.
AHS Spanish teachers and prom co-sponsors Rebecca Huls and Kara McNeese explained several benefits of the move away from the old high school gymnasium, reporting that students seem excited about Saturday’s pending celebration.
“We wanted a venue that was more normal for the students and The Leadership Center is a beautiful place that we felt like we should utilize,” Huls began. “It’s also climate controlled and there have been some problems when it’s super hot in the gym, so that will be nice.”
Cost and time spent decorating were also considerations in the move.
“The decoration costs have gone way up and they’re three to four thousand dollars now,” she added. “That’s a lot and they are cardboard, so you can’t save them. It will be nice to have a venue where we won’t have to use the big kits that we used to fill up the space in the gym.”
“That’s the thing about the gym is that we tried to camaflouge it, so we had to put up false walls and false ceilings, so by moving to The Leadership Center we don’t have to purchase all that and put it in,” added McNeese. “We’re saving a lot of money and will take days off of the decorating. Sometimes it’s hard to get kids to help because they are so involved, so now we’re going to decorate in a day.”
Asked about students’ reaction to the change, both said it has been positive.
“They’re excited and looking forward to it,” Huls said. “I think it’s exciting to have it off campus, to just go somewhere a little different. This is our first year of doing this so we’ll see how it goes.”
With an “Enchanted Garden” theme, this year’s event will invite students and their dates to The Leadership Center at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, with coronation planned for 9:30 and dancing to continue until midnight.
A professional photographer will be on site taking pictures of the couples, with still photos to be posted throughout the night on the ahs.prom Instagram account.
“We’re only inviting the immediate family of the court into The Leadership Center for crowd control purposes, because we just don’t have the room,” McNeese said. “It will be a little different this year, but that’s why we have the Instagram is to hopefully livestream the coronation and send pictures through there so parents can kind of feel like they’re still a part of the night.”
When the dance is over, post-prom activities are scheduled at the Aurora Middle School, an event coordinated by junior parents.
Maile Ilac Boeder, TLC’s executive director, said she and her staff are excited to host this year’s prom.
“We are so excited to be a part of this incredible tradition and we look forward to celebrating our great students,” she said. “We really are looking forward to serving them and seeing them create moments that matter during their prom at The Leadership Center.”