Just two weeks ago, juniors, seniors, and a few lucky sophomores invited as dates attended the Rocky Mount Academy prom. Although the event was on April 4, the planning behind this special dance started months and months before! So, what does it take to pull off a prom?
The first prom planning meeting was in October–yes, October!–and there were more than a dozen meetings after that, but even before students got together to talk about what they wanted prom to look like, they had to secure enough funds to pay for decorations, a band, security, cleanup, and more. To raise money for prom, each junior class holds an annual poinsettia sale, and this year the juniors sold an amazing 1,167 poinsettias to friends, families, and local businesses!
Next was deciding on a theme since you cannot start planning prom without an overall concept for the event. This year, the junior class chose Ancient Greece as the theme, which–to my knowledge–has never been done at RMA. To select the theme each year, various juniors offer ideas on what they think the theme should be; then we vote. It is typical for the vote to be fairly spread out, but this year, the majority truly ruled, with a little over three-fourths of the class agreeing on Ancient Greece.
Picking the theme is just the first step in the long process of planning prom. Between the ceiling fabric, tablecloths, chandelier, and even the drink syrups, prom planning truly takes from October to the morning of prom to put together. There are so many details, big and small, that go into planning, so to make sure everything gets done, Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Knox create a task list requiring students to sign up and complete jobs over the course of several months. Some students’ tasks involved painting, building, shopping, or driving to pick things up. Every student had jobs to complete, showing that putting together a prom is always a group effort!
Some of our big projects for this year were creating the Grecian temple that went around the stage and the art piece that adorned the ceiling. Liam Long, Dustin Proctor, and Walt Fisher created the temple out of cardboard and insulation board, and it took many study halls to make and paint. One of the best parts about constructing the temple is that students got to use such practical skills as they measured and cut and also incorporated a knowledge of geometry to get the angles just right. (Did you know a Grecian temple’s pediment should be about 15 degrees?)
Elizabeth Paszek, Ann Cleveland Fisher, and Sadie Meadows created the ceiling art piece with the gods of Mount Olympus looking down at our event. Weeks went into this project, as the girls had to do a trial run and then draw (freehand!) and paint the picture on the canvas. Cotton clouds and backlighting were added the day before prom as finishing touches.
The months and months of planning, meetings, and tasks all led up to the three days set aside for decorating the cafe. These final days are when prom starts to come together and everyone can see how their individual contributions have added up to something truly special! After lunch on Wednesday, April 2, the Juniors cleared the cafe of tables and began the setup process, using scaffolding, a scissor lift, and multiple ladders to hang the ceiling fabric and put up the curtains along the sides of the cafeteria so that the room doesn’t look anything like a school cafeteria. The next day was a full day of prom decorating. This was when we got to put out the tables, plants, columns, and all the other decorations that turned the cafeteria into Ancient Greece. The Juniors had a couple of breaks throughout the day and were provided lunch from El Mariachi to refuel. It was truly a nonstop day since a big portion of the Junior Class plays spring sports and went straight from prom setup to dismissal to games at Halifax Academy. The final day of setup was the morning of prom, where we added the finishing touches and hung the temple above the stage. Around noon, the Juniors and Seniors were dismissed from school so they could start getting ready for prom. After all of the setting that takes place before the night of prom, it was awesome for the Juniors to finally get to see all their hard work pay off and just enjoy it!
It was truly a special night for Rocky Mount Academy. The seniors and their dates were presented by Mrs. Murphy, and students then shared their first dance with their parents–the girls danced with their fathers (or another special individual), and the boys danced with their mothers. Adding to this unique experience, something that RMA does that most other schools don’t is have a live band for prom! The 2025 band was Eight Past Midnight, and they have performed at every RMA prom since 2019! After nearly two hours of dancing and just spending time together, we ended the night by announcing our prom king and queen: Terrence Pittman and Sarah Habib.
Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible: those who bought poinsettias, the junior class, Ms. Knox, Ms. Obrien, Mr. Joe, Mr. Tucker, the Freshman and Sophomore volunteers, and anyone else who contributed to making prom such a special night.
Prom by the numbers:
1167 poinsettias sold
430 yards of fabric to cover the ceiling
36 students in the Junior Class
19 cans of spray paint
8 orders from Amazon
5 trips to the craft store
3 setup days
