GOSHEN COUNTY – This year’s plan for prom was one of the many uncertainties caused by the pandemic. Planning prom usually takes about six months, but this year, students did so in a little over two. 

The Goshen County School District (GCSD) prom will be held on Saturday, April 24. The grand march is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Torrington High School (THS) gymnasium. Prom royalty will be announced shortly after the grand march, according to THS junior Allison Brummell.

This year, Brummell was president of the prom committee and was also part of the decorating committee.

Brummell said in early February it was announced that prom could take place this year. Shortly after, Brummell went to Principal Chase Christensen’s office and said, “we need to start planning prom. How do you do it?”

After Christensen explained how to get started, Brummell said she took initiative.

“It’s kind of funny, I literally walked into his office with a notebook. I set it down and said, ‘this is how prom’s going to be,’” she said.

Brummell said planning for the event usually starts in October, but there were uncertainties surrounding the event, due to COVID restrictions.

Junior Reece Halley, who is on the favors committee, said before the variance was approved, there was talk of not having prom or trying to have it outside.

Though prom will look similar to other years, there are a few elements that will look different, due to COVID.

Usually only half the gymnasium is used for prom. The committee planned on using the entire gym, to allow for social distancing. After the district’s application for a variance was approved, they had the option of reducing the space. Brummell said since they had already been planning for the whole gym, they would continue with that plan.

Food is another category that will look different. The group had been planning to only use pre-packaged food items according to Halley. Food at prom will be 300 cupcakes, made by one of the high school’s food classes, Chex mix and a variety of other snacks. There will also be an AJ’s Soda Shop stand. Brummell said attendees will be able to order drinks until about 9 p.m. Drink orders will be taken at the stand and drinks will be delivered from AJ’s, including four different specialty drinks
for prom.

“We’ve done a crazy amount of work in the last two months to get here,” Brummell said.

After Brummell decided to initiate the planning of prom, the junior class met and had the opportunity to sign up for prom committee.

“A group of us decided that we’d help,” said Halley. 

From there, students chose which committees they wanted to be on. 

According to Halley and Brummell, there are about 15 students who planned prom. The budget committee had three members, decorating had three, entertainment also had three and four or five students were on the favors committee.

Last Thursday, the whole prom committee met and decided they would take the whole day this Thursday to set up the gym. Brummell said about 20 students from Southeast and Lingle-Fort Laramie are planning to help set up.

School advisors from Southeast and Lingle-Fort Laramie act as liaisons for the students at their schools.

Brummell said THS students tend to be more involved since prom is held in Torrington.

The prom committee decided on “Under the Stars” as their theme. Brummell said the gym will feature black, gold and navy decorations, with a lot of lights.

Halley said the committee is planning for about 250 attendees. Currently, they have sold 45 couple’s tickets and three single tickets to Torrington students. Brummell anticipates about 50 students from Southeast and Lingle-Fort Laramie combined.

All juniors and seniors from the schools are invited. Others may go if invited, as a couple with a junior or senior.

Prom royalty will be announced right after the grand march, so the public can see. This was decided on Monday, the 19th, according to Brummell.

Each school will crown their own royalty. Two juniors will be crowned prom prince and princess. From the seniors, a king, queen and two runners-up will be crowned.

Voting isn’t required, but all juniors and seniors are encouraged to do so.

“We really like when everybody gets a chance to vote,” Brummell said.

Voting closed on Wednesday, April 21.

Attending prom is free for students from Southeast and Lingle-Fort Laramie. Torrington students pay $7 for a single ticket and $10 for a couple’s ticket. Brummell said the funds from prom tickets will be used for the class’ graduation ceremony and senior trip.

Brummell said all prom fundraising for THS was done in the class’ sophomore year. Other schools spend more time raising money, she said.

The budget was $5,000 according to Brummell and Halley, with Torrington providing $2,000 and Southeast and Lingle-Fort Laramie each providing $1,500.

Brummell said the committee has received help from several businesses in the community. She specifically mentioned Wagner’s Floral and AJ’s Soda Shop.

“The community has been a huge help,” Brummell said. “We’re really grateful for them.”

The after-prom party will take place immediately following the dance, at around 11 p.m., according to Brummell.

Brummell’s mom, Jennifer has been in charge of planning it. Brummell said there will be plenty of games, walking tacos, pizza and prizes (including three laptops).

Teardown from prom will take place on April 25.

“We have to go the next day, hopefully later in the afternoon because we will all be very tired,” Brummell said. The prom committee is expected to clean up.

“Some schools have the tradition of the sophomores taking [decorations] down, but we didn’t want them to be mad at us,” said Brummell.

“And we didn’t have to last year,” added Halley.