Prom: The Tale of Fire and Ice

Walnut Grove High School students will share their adventures with Prom of 2024 on April 28th.
by Cameron Parker

Overview:
This year WGHS went above and beyond the expectations for prom. The theme this year was fire and ice, though most students did not adhere to the theme and made a theme of their own. Students were able to pick out their outfits, take pictures, and do whatever theme they desired, allowing for their creativity to flow. The event as described by our interviewees was a wedding venue and was very professional and amazing for our students to experience. Students were able to bring partners from other schools, and other grades besides 11/12th. Students elected Samantha Allred and William Jarzen as prom queen and king.

Before:
Most students decided to eat before going to the dance, take pictures, and plan anything they were doing for the rest of the night. Downtown Monroe was a place of interest for people taking pictures, eating before the dance, or just hanging out with friends before they party. 

Though the dance was very late it allowed the guests to take their time and plan how they needed to. A lot of students went to the botanical gardens, downtown Monroe, or just took some amazing pictures at their house and had family come over.

During:
When students walked into the event, they described it as being super nice and having way more room than everyone needed. Students were able to spread out and enjoy their time at the dance. 

Twelfth grader Zoey Olawumi says, “The event was very big inside and there were a lot of people, though the venue fit everyone inside.” If there was not enough room for everyone going to the dance it would have been uncomfortable, and overall miserable so it's nice to hear they had enough room.

Though we heard some complaints about the food, it was mostly because people could not find the table that held the snacks. However, people were also saying the drinks were watered down and the snacks were lackluster. Most students did not stay the full four hours and mostly just went home and had friends over or downtown Monroe to get Scoops.

After:
Most of the WGHS students that we interviewed, had a rather calm night after prom. Some went out to eat after, and some went straight home. Twelfth grader Darien Cabello says, “I went straight home after prom.” The 12th graders that we interviewed said that it was their last prom. 

Olawumi states, “Prom was pretty important to me, considering it's my last year at high school.” A lot of seniors went all out for prom considering it was there last year. Prom queen Samantha Allred says, “Prom was important to me because it's a key memory of high school.” Prom is a good way to socialize with friends and make memories. You won't be going to prom your whole life, so  you better enjoy it. 

Crazy story:
Justice Vlahos (12) walks us through his time going to prom saying “I started my day by picking up my suit from alterations, then we went to eat at Applebee's because Texas Roadhouse was packed. Then from Applebee's, I got into a wreck: someone was speeding down the road and hit the side of my truck. I ended up going to prom for ten minutes, and I went to a party for ten minutes.” Though he was not able to go to the dance for long, he said the dance was fun even though he was dealing with the crash for most of the day.

After a long night at prom, the high schoolers had a blast. They lived the night out to the fullest, especially the seniors considering it was their last prom, and enjoyed the night. WGHS hosted a wonderful prom, and we couldn't ask for better.