Hudson Prom: a Night to Remember

“Prom” has been a cultural phenomenon all across the United States ever since the late 19th century. The concept of what “prom” is has changed a lot over the years, but its central idea has not changed; it is a formal dance for high-schoolers to mark the end of a long school year. Some schools have a dance for juniors and another for seniors, and some have one dance for all upperclassmen, but either way, the evening is sure to be filled with fun.

Typically, prom involves expensive attire and transportation, as well as the price of an expensive ticket itself. This makes for a rather costly night, but for many teenagers, the experience outweighs those expenses. At Henry Hudson, though the school may be small, there is still a lot that goes into the planning and execution of a prom.

To find out more about previous proms at Hudson, we interviewed the current senior class president, Alina Keller, who helped plan last year’s prom. There were about sixty people at last year’s prom, "A Night Under the Stars." Each ticket was $70, two for $140. The venue was Jacques in Hazlet. The night took months of planning, but it definitely paid off. Alina said, “What you heard was that everyone loved prom and had a lot of fun.”

Henry Hudson’s 2019 prom, set for early June, will not have taken place as of time of this article’s publication. However, we were able to gain information about the dance through interviewing Ralph DiAntonio and Mrs. Fitzsimmons. Ralph is a current student council officer for the class of 2020, who are in charge of the planning and execution of this year’s prom. Mrs. Fitzsimmons is one of the junior class’ two advisors, and has also greatly assisted with the planning of prom.

The class of 2020 has been planning this year’s prom for over a year now (since last spring). This may seem like a lot of planning for only one dance, but many steps must be taken to ensure that the night goes as smoothly as possible. Roughly one hundred students are expected to be in attendance, though this number is approximate. This means that eight teacher chaperones will also attend the dance. Because Henry Hudson is a fairly small school, this means that our proms are typically held in smaller venues, so less chaperones are needed than at many other schools.

The costs to host prom totaled at somewhere around $6,000, and a class typically uses nearly all the money they have saved up from years of fundraising in order to bring the ticket costs down. In order to fund this event, the junior class has been saving up “really since before freshman year,” according to Mrs. Fitzsimmons. “[But] we’ll still have a lot going on senior year to worry about,” she adds, in reference to the trips, ordered-out lunches, and other activities that a senior class student council must still fundraise for.

There are many more details to be revealed to the guys of the 2019 junior and senior prom. This year, the theme is “Glitz & Glamor,” so a remarkable night is surely in store. The event is set to be located on Friday, June 7th, at the Beacon Hill Country Club in Middletown. We hope you all enjoy this year’s dazzling prom.

-Jordan Lombardi and Maeve Sherlock, freshmen