Prom is seen as the highlight of every senior’s year; the food, the music, the venue and the allure of a fantastical night. Though a lack of fundraising after COVID-19 has led to ticket prices being unsure and the lack of donations gathered leads to uncertainty in prom planning. 

Classes raise money over the four school years here, which all adds up for prom. COVID-19 affected the fundraising department at Kennedy and led to the class of 2023 losing a year-and-a-half worth of funding due to lockdown and quarantine.

“Our goal is to fundraise around $8,000 over the course of four years,” Christina Langton, 2023 Student Council Coordinator said. “That helps to reduce the price of tickets so that they’re not astronomical.”

The class of 2023 held can drives, dodgeball tournaments, t-shirt sales and more. Even now, fundraising isn’t finished.

“The planning is going really well,” prom planner Kristina Meritt said. “We have a theme, we’ve got all of the big things booked, the hypnotist, the venue is booked and post prom is booked…Now it’s just ‘Can we campaign?’ and get some money to just help bring the cost of the tickets down.”

The rest of the expenses will be paid with student ticket sales. With more funding money, the prices of those tickets can be kept down.

“We’re sending out a parent letter to the Kennedy families to see if anyone would like to donate…Grand march and post prom is run by the PTSA (parent support group) and they could use more volunteers,” Langton said.

Help from students and parents are key in planning this year’s prom. From small donations to volunteering at prom, any and all help will make prom a better experience.

“They could ask their parents to help out, and the PTSA meets every Friday evening in the IMC,” Langton said. “When you receive that parent letter in the mail, if you’re financially able to give a donation, even a small one, if every senior or family that planned on coming donated $10, that would significantly help the overall impact.”