FHN’s Prom will be on May 17 this year, nearly a month after last year’s Prom date: April 20. Traditionally, Prom is scheduled to be the third Saturday of April, but this year the third Saturday lands on Easter weekend. By the time the forms were submitted, the only dates available at the Saint Charles Convention Center were either Friday, May 2 or Saturday, May 17. Rather than trying to hold a Friday night Prom and risk students staying home from school to prepare for the dance, the administration decided that May 17 was a better date.

In order to avoid this problem in the first place, the date of Prom should have been chosen earlier. The Saint Charles Convention Center, the venue for FHN’s Prom, accepts contracts for events, a year before the event. This means that if a contract is signed by both parties and turned in with the down payment on April 20, 2014, then FHN can have their Prom any day from April 20, 2014, to April 20, 2015. Because of this, Delegates should start the process of choosing a date earlier in order to have the contract ready to reserve the date they want.

The process starts with the date being chosen by the Junior Class President and Junior Class Sponsor Marissa Cohen. This date can be determined by talking with the Convention Center to check the availability of dates. Prom’s date, along with a backup date, needs to be sent
to administration to be approved. As the date is getting approved, the Junior Delegates should prepare a contract and have the down payment for the Convention Center ready. This planning ahead would easily allow the delegates to quickly turn in their contract and get the date of their choice. If the date, for some reason, isn’t approved, the pre- made contract should be filled out in such a way that the date can be easily adjusted to the chosen backup date. An outline of the contract should be kept to use in the future.

The problem with waiting too long to start the process of picking a date is that it limits the number of days available. This, in turn, creates a problem because the limit of date choices allows Prom to possibly conflict with other important events. Prom happens to fall on the same day as FHN’s Track Team’s District meet this year, which lasts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., ending half an hour before Prom. In the past, Prom has also fallen on the same day as important Band and Winter Guard competitions. This prevents, or at least limits, students from attending what most consider an important high school event. Picking the Prom date in advance would prevent, or at least limit, conflicts like these from arising.

Planning ahead to get their date of choice is only going to benefit Delegates. Not only will it prevent Prom from conflicting with other events, but it will also allow Delegates to begin planning the next year’s Prom in advance. They have more time to plan, book the DJ, and start looking at ideas for themes. This would allow Delegates to present themes for the students to vote on sooner, which would give them more time to budget out decorations and other expenses. Picking Prom dates early also creates a consistency. This helps students have a general idea of when Prom will be so they can plan ahead, as well as making it easier to rebook DJs for the same general date every year.

Although planning Prom is a long and difficult process, choosing the date should be simple. The date should stay within the same time frame for years to allow more time for planning and to prevent conflicts from arising.