The Cinderella moment 

It’s that time of the year again where every girl is on a mission to find the perfect date, to make that fancy dinner reservation, and to book that huge limo… But let’s be honest. It’s all about the dress. From lace to satin to silk, from halter to strapless to strappy, there is a gown made for every girl out there.
“Shopping for dresses is so much fun, but it can also be super stressful. You want to make sure you find the perfect one,” Hanna Spracklin ‘19 said. It’s not a quick or easy process, There will be dress after dress until that very moment when one just clicks.
It’s the Cinderella moment. Her eyes light up. A huge smile appears on her face. It’s the scene from a fairytale. All she can think about is seeing her date or her friends for the first time and feeling on top of the world.
“You can always tell when you found the right dress because you get this super exciting feeling in your stomach, and you can’t help but smile and laugh, it’s such a good moment. Every girl deserves to have that special moment,” Gia Dewitt ‘19 said.
Once the dress is found, it’s almost as if everything falls into place. It’s the sense of pure confidence that brings out the beauty. “The moment I put the dress on I loved it. I felt confident, and that’s the most important part about prom dress shopping, how you feel in the perfect dress,” Spracklin said.
Many girls can relate to the jealousy of the upperclassmen going to prom when they were younger, watching the older girls have the time of their lives, while the thought of waiting until next year or the year after felt like an eternity. “After waiting for two years, I am so excited for prom. It’s one of those nights that every girl dreams of,” Liv Angel ‘20 said.
When the time finally comes, it needs to be picture-perfect. The dress is the center of prom. It essentially makes or breaks the outcome of a girl’s night.
After years and years people continue to always talk about their high school proms and the magic of the night. Lots of prom traditions have changed since then, but one tradition has held firm: the dress shopping. Finding the perfect dress is one feeling that will stay with a girl forever.

The prince’s plans

It’s finally prom, and love is officially in the air! Boys are working hard to present the best promposal for their dream girl as girls are patiently waiting for the big ask. Although there’s nothing wrong with a simple question, the extravagant and personal celebrations are way more exciting.
Andrew Yi ‘20 and Vanessa Hartley ‘19 agree. The two have been dating for six months and continue to fall harder and harder for each other every day.
Just last week, Yi knew the time was right and popped the question. After an hour of hard work, the perfect sign was finally done. “I actually put in a ton of effort because I knew it would make her happy,” Yi said.
He decided to match the sign with Hartley’s silly personality, so he made a sign that read ,“Vanessa, I can Hartley wait to go to Prom?” in big, gold block-letters. Yi then drove to Alfalfa’s Market, where Hartley was in the middle of her shift. He pretended to be buying a smoothie and proceeded to the checkout counter, where Hartley was working as the cashier.
Hartley was pleasantly surprised, and decided to write her answer on his receipt, which was an enthusiastic “Yes!”
“Even though Andrew and I have been dating so long, I still got the butterflies. He knows how to put a smile on my face under any circumstance,” Hartley said.
The couple can’t wait for the night. With Hartley graduating this year, it’s their last school dance together. They can’t wait to spend prom with all of their close friends and dance the night away.
High school love is unforgettable. It’s your first love, your first kiss, your first glimpse into the rest of your life. It may just be a silly sign and extra performance, but the message behind it is what counts. It’s the feeling you have in that moment, that moment where your heart skips a beat, and it’s just two people in love.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, how does one prepare the ball?

Once upon a time, just about two years ago, Megan Banks ‘19, Caleb Guo ‘19, Tyson Trofino ‘19, and Sarah Gilpin ‘19 were anxious, yet joyful, as they found out they were the new executive board of what is now 2018-2019’s Senior Senate.
Senior Senate plans and fundraises for their senior prom, chooses the class quote and class song, and helps coordinate their high school graduation.
The group realized that there was a long journey ahead of them that day. “From there,” Banks said, “we immediately started fundraising for our senior prom.”
Underneath the blinding lights of the first football game of the 2017 season, students dressed head to toe in black and gold and covered in flour stood in line to buy snacks and drinks from juniors who stood behind the concession stand so they could have the prom everyone dreams of.
Occasionally, cheers would erupt from the student section and the teens purchasing their food would try and rush the juniors so they could get back to the game. The juniors were already stressed enough. They had never done this before and were running low on snacks to sell.
“No one really knew what they were doing,” Guo said. “We would have to try to coordinate in order to make everything run smoothly. We ran out of pizza about halfway through the night. It was just a total mess.”
By the homecoming game, however, the executive team had it down. The juniors had energetic smiles plastered on their faces while gathering donations and shuffling behind the stand to serve each and every person in line so they could put on the senior prom they have always dreamt of.
“Tyson would set the prices and also schmooze the customers,” Senior Senate sponsor Ms. Beatrice Gerrish said. “One time, Tyson raised 87 dollars in tips alone.”
During the difficult process of finding a location to hold their beloved senior prom, the executive team visited Red Rocks, the Denver Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, and the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum located in Denver. Finally, the team gathered at The Chateau at Fox Meadows for the first time and immediately fell in love with what they were staring at.
“It was great,” Guo said. “We walked in and were like, ‘This is it. This is the place.’ We knew right away.”
They could picture stretch limos and extravagant party buses containing unbelievably excited high schoolers driving up the sweeping driveway. They imagined girls in floor-length, sparkly dresses and high heels walking down the stunning staircases, couples standing outside on the charming balconies, hand in hand. They could envision teenagers dancing below the sparkling chandelier in the magnificent ballroom to their favorite songs.
They saw their peers living out the high school fantasy that is only seen in movies, until now. The Chateau at Fox Meadows is the place that will bring this cliche to life.
“It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale,” Banks said.
Like any fairy tale, though, there was a multitude of setbacks and uncomfortable encounters.
“When we visited Chateau at Fox Meadows, there was a political group meeting,” Guo said. “Some lady approached us, and I was like, ‘Alright, here we go.’ She started asking if we were going to vote and telling us who we should vote for and why we should vote for them. I was just like, ‘I’m here to plan a prom, lady.’”
Providing the senior year of every high schooler’s dreams to their peers, while also following the rules the school had set, was an extremely difficult task. Ideas and plans that the team had hyped to their friends would continuously get shut down.
Irritated, the executive team would have to break the disappointing news to their classmates time and time again.
Despite the troubles, site visits continued and their plans progressed. They had to find and hire a photographer with an eye for beauty and discover an energetic DJ with a great taste in music who would be willing to work at a high school prom.
They spent a crazy amount of time with assistant principal Mr. Eric Moroye and Ms. Gerrish, discussing the decisions made and getting approval for the next steps in this long and tiring, but important, process.
These four seniors have been working on bringing their fairy tale to life for two years and because of this, the graduating class of 2019 will live happily ever after.