By Brooklyn Toney and Emma Duncan--Eagle Staff Writer and Eagle Editor
It’s that time of year for the annual Eagle prom! This year's prom "An Evening of Opulence" will be held at the Harvester Performance Center on April 29 from 6-10PM.
This year's prom is being organized by the members of the Junior Class SCA and its sponsors, teachers Kim Powell and Elizabeth Deems. Each class begins planning for prom years in advance.
“We are in charge of fundraising for the junior class to raise funds to help pay for prom," Powell began. "We also have to collaborate with our officers to make decisions about prom. Most of our year is spent planning prom.”
Members of the Junior Class Student Council have decided to partner with someone local for this year’s prom. It will be the first indoor prom since 2019.
Junior Class Treasurer Faith Hunziker explains she is excited for the new venue.
“I am super excited about having prom this year at the Harvester! It is a local venue that is located in the middle of Rocky Mount which makes it easy for everyone to access," she said. "The staff at the Harvester has been extremely helpful with hosting prom and opening up their venue for the night!”
Prom preparations haven't always gone so smoothly.
“Most of us on the team were aware of everything that happened last year. That is why we decided to have it in the county. Having prom at the Harvester opens up relationships with the school and the local community,” Junior Class President Catie Altice added.
When coming up with the theme of prom, each SCA member submitted ideas to be voted on by the council. They decided on "An Evening of Opulence."
“The inspiration for the theme came from the opulence and grandeur of the Roaring Twenties, to create a luxurious escape for the evening,” Powell described.
Planning prom is a big responsibility to take on for the members and has its ups and downs.
“I have talked to a couple of people who helped plan prom last year. The biggest piece of advice I received was to not let anyone else's opinions bring our planning down,” Altice said.
Although there are obstacles, the council members try to be optimistic about the planning.
“Planning prom is super exciting. I have the pleasure to work with a great team. Having the responsibility can be super stressful at times but it is also very rewarding. Our whole team is planning on prom being amazing!”
Each member brings ideas, conflict resolution, and creativity to the process, especially when decorations are involved.
“We are making and buying decorations,” Altice explained. “We have some extremely talented people on our SCA team that are really good at making my imagination into a real thing. For example, [for] the homecoming hallway, [junior] Jordan Bernard drew beautiful murals of the Eagle and many other things on the glass of the Law office. So Jordan and other members of the team will be making tons of things.”
Bernard, SCA cabinet member, went on to elaborate on her creative process.
"If there is a vision that I want to fulfill, I make sure that we have the supplies to fulfill it," she said. "For creating decorations, a lot of the creative process involves using multiple small decorations and combining them into a larger decoration that blends well. Combining decorations to create a larger one involves understanding what colors look good together and how to combine decorations without them looking jumbled. We will also be decorating directive chalkboard signs for the lobby and lounge that I am excited to draw on! My inspiration for the decoration does not come from a point place. I took comments and ideas from my fellow SCA members... to create what we believe to be a beautiful display of decorations that is still simple. The color scheme was a long process, but I am happy with the one we chose, and the colors work well together."
To raise money for these decorations, as well as the venue and other necessary prom supplies, the junior class held several fundraisers this school year in addition to the money they’d been raising since they were freshmen.
“For prom, we fundraised through the junior vs. senior volleyball game in the fall and opened the Swag Shop that allows people to buy school merchandise online,” Hunziker commented. “In addition, we have asked local businesses for support!”
The junior class also took it upon themselves to decide the soundtrack of the night. However, since they aren’t the only students attending “An Evening of Opulence,” they sought out the opinions of other Eagles through a poll which ran until March 22.
“I saw another school do a poll for something to do with their prom and I thought a song suggestion poll would be a great idea,” Altice said. “Our whole school has very diverse music tastes because of how big our student body is. We want everyone who is in attendance at prom to be able to hear some of their favorite songs.”
While juniors and seniors were allowed to submit song ideas to this poll, only seniors are eligible to vote for prom king and queen.
“Seniors will nominate a male and female for Prom King and Queen. The students with the most votes will be crowned that night at approximately 8:30. Voting will be open to seniors with a Google Form submission in their school email for one week, which will take place after Spring Break.”
The junior class also wants to remind students that they will be responsible for their own transportation to the prom, as well as finding a parking spot; nowhere in Downtown Rocky Mount will be reserved just for students.
“There are numerous parking spaces in the downtown area,” Powell assured. “If you need help with either of these, please see Ms. Lynch in Ramsey Office as soon as possible.”
Besides parking, students only had to worry about their potential date, outfit, and of course their ticket. From March 13 until April 7, tickets were only $40, but from April 8 until April 21 the price rose to $50.
During the ticket sale period, junior class officers delivered a souvenir cup and invitation to each ticket purchaser as keepsakes to help remember prom.
As students dance the night away with their friends, refreshments will be provided. Upperclassmen can expect water and food “from our very own Culinary Arts program,” according to Powell.
The rest of the details regarding "An Evening of Opulence" will remain a surprise for juniors and seniors to discover on the 29th.
"I believe prom will go very well this year. I want everyone to know that the Junior SCA has done its very best to ensure that this prom is absolutely amazing. We want everyone to enjoy themselves, and we want prom to be a beautiful and fun experience for all students," Bernard shared. "Also, we would love for people to attend the FCHS after-prom in Central Gym! It’s a school-sponsored event with a DJ, food, inflatables, games, and prizes like gift cards, laptops, televisions, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, Apple pens, and a 4k streaming camera! Everyone just go out to prom and have a blast!"
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