Prom, one of the capstone events for graduating high school seniors across the country, holds a special place at U-High, and this year’s prom will be a special event for a Senior Class that has missed out on plenty of school-related events due to the pandemic. 

With a theme of “Moonlit Memories,” this year’s prom will occur Saturday, June 3, at The Study Hotel at the University of Chicago from 6:30-9:30 p.m., the second off-campus prom since the pandemic. 

The prom committee has raised money for the event through fundraisers, such as selling taffy apples around Halloween and chocolate truffles on Valentine’s Day. Senior Lena Stole, a leading voice on the committee said prom can be expensive, and collecting sufficient funds for the event was her primary goal.

“The first steps were finding a venue,” Lena said, “and that was one of the hardest things to do because after COVID, everything has drastically gone up in prices. And in contrast to last year’s dance we knew that we would have to pay a lot more for all the service fees, the venue fees and the food. So we really wanted to make sure we were fundraising a lot.”

Lena also said developing a meaningful theme was important to the committee. The “Moonlit Memories” theme is designed to capture and reflect on the seniors’ journeys at Lab.

“This is our last year together as a grade, and some of us have been here for almost 15 years,” Lena said. “We wanted to incorporate pictures from our past, and so we are having people submit photos of themselves over the years, which we’ll put around the space. Then we have photo booths for the night of.”

By lowering the price for prom tickets, Lena said the Prom Committee wanted to ensure prom would be affordable for more students.

“Our tickets this year were $80,” Lena said, “and the Parents’ Association had their own system of financial aid to get more students to come. At other schools, and even in previous years at our school, prom tickets can be around $150. We almost halved that price, which we’re really proud of. 

Coming out of a high school career that was filled with COVID-related disturbances, the prom is a highly anticipated celebration for the seniors. 

“There’s definitely a lot of build up and I’m very excited for the dance,” Lena said. “With less than a month away, it’s coming together.”