PRIGGITY PRIZZOM 2K10

Yesterday I spent about 17 hours at the Wendell Community Center working on prom stuff. That included decoration construction, setup, food arranging, and the prom itself. You should have seen my feet afterward! I could barely walk! But it ended up really being worth it, because I think Rebekah and I put on a great event for our students and everyone appreciated it. I had a lot of students come up and thank me and tell me how much they liked it, and even little things (like seeing our prom king wear his crown and lei ALL NIGHT, and watching kids take photos in front of the arch that nearly killed us to construct) made me feel very rewarded.

No one really ate the food, so I don't think they're planning to provide any next year. And I know that there's no way Rebekah will do this again--especially after the whole paperwork fiasco that we went through for what ended up being no REAL reason, except that we had a nearly-comprehensive guest list that I only had to add about 3 people to (one of whom I had just left off). But for our first prom as coordinators, it was awesome. The lighting and decor were lovely, and I managed to get rid of some of the old decorations from my wedding that I had no idea how to use in the future! We used the centerpieces from the wedding, which are small mirror plates with candleholders and seashells on and around them. It brought back some crazy memories putting those things together. I donated them to the school so that I don't have to deal with them, because they can definitely be reused for Winterfest or anything where we need some nice-ish decor. The colors are adaptable.

One girl did try to get in with a counterfeit ticket which was the wrong color. That was weird. The best part was, her date took her home and came back himself for the rest of the evening! (I mean, hey, he wasn't going to miss his senior prom.) Julie, one of the science teachers, went around with the plastic leis we had bought and started just putting them on people. I think more than half of the people left with them, and surprisingly, I didn't find but one or two on the floor or tables, and didn't see any in the trash can. I know it isn't much, but prom favors are fun to have, and I think it added a little more festivity to the evening.

We also had raffle tickets that we used for the coat check room, but we ran out of space for jackets, so a lot of it was shoes and purses. Rebekah and Ben manned that room all evening, and I think they enjoyed being insulated from the noise and dancing and craziness that was the main room. I went back and forth between the ticket table, the coat check, the photo room, and the refreshment table, and I took a few candid photos. Our candid photographer was the same person doing the keychains, and everyone gets those, so I don't think she got out a whole lot; but she did get photos of the king and queen, and a few others, and I got photos of the breakdancing guys that took over the floor around 11:30, so we're probably covered.

It stormed pretty much all night, which would have been a downer but kept kids under the canopy rather than wandering the park, and helped us keep tabs on everyone. And we got a fountain for the night, which is quite nice and could be a permanent fixture on campus if we want to pretty up some area of the school--it should probably go outside though; maybe Green Club can install it in some kind of landscaping project, I don't know. But I feel like this was a big success, and with this out of the way and yearbooks still selling fast, at least some aspects of my job are ending on a high note. Maybe I'm not the greatest classroom teacher ever, but I rock at extracurriculars. And I think the school will miss that.