Meghan Evans, Zoe Potamianos, and Mara Durkin

Staff Writers

The end of the school year is approaching, bringing a stressful yet exciting couple of months for the junior class because of AP testing, college visits, the SATs and ACTs, and finally: prom.

The Junior Prom will be held on May 12, in between the weeks of AP testing. Some students are stressed and “may even have to bring their textbooks to the dance floor,” said junior Liam Kaplan. “I think that it is a horrible idea to have AP testing the same week of prom. Last year prom was the week after AP testing which was a brilliant idea because there would be no stress during prom,” said Kaplan.

This will be a first prom for many juniors so there are big expectations. “I expect it to be really fun and hope everyone gets up and dances,” said junior Fidel Martinez. Juniors who have been to prom previously have higher expectations. “Last year, I went to prom with the upperclassmen so I hope to have more friends and have more fun this year,” said junior Shannon Beaudry.

For the first time, junior prom will be held in the Main Gym rather than the Auxiliary Gym. This year’s prom committee proposed the idea of the new change. “It is bigger than the Aux Gym so it will be less crowded and not as hot,” said Junior Prom Committee Member Emma Galletta.  Due to a different location, catering will also be different for this year’s prom. “The cafeteria service felt it would be slightly inconvenient for them to take everything they made downstairs because they are on the opposite end of the school. We didn’t want them to go through that inconvenience,” said Galletta. This year’s prom will be catered by Taste Unlimited, which is owned by junior Aliah Mahshie’s parents.

Juniors at J-DHS will be able to bring students of any grade or from other school districts. This year the prom tickets will cost $40 for juniors and $50 for guests, whether they’re from a different school or J-DHS.

The chosen theme will be paper lanterns. Each student got to vote for what theme they would want for prom off of a paper ballot that was brought to their homeroom. Juniors got to choose from themes such as under the sea, neon lights, casino night, and paper lanterns. “We looked through prom theme magazines to get ideas and found some good ones, students seemed to like them,” said Prom Committee adviser and science teacher Amy Becker.

Many students are already preparing for prom and have their outfits ready. “I haven’t gotten my tux yet, but I will get mine soon at Men’s Wearhouse,” said junior Niko Dimkopoulos. “Boom Babies is a popular place where girls get their dresses, I got mine from there,” said Whipple. That is not the only place girls get them, though. Some have gotten theirs from David’s Bridal, or from sites online.

For students who might have a hard time affording a dress, a program was set up by physical education teacher Cara Goldberg. She thought this program would be a good idea since dresses are too expensive for some. She has about 20 students come to get dresses from her each year. If you are in need of a dress, it isn’t too late to go see Ms.Goldberg.