As anyone who has attempted to organize plans for just one single group knows all too well, school dances are coupled with an underestimated amount of coordination. On March 24, Blue Valley’s annual Prom took place at the Hilltop venue, but as juniors Chanie Rankin and Madison Pointer understand, the preparation began far before that night. 

“In the beginning, the meetings were not super organized,” Pointer said. “Everybody was just throwing random ideas around, so we decided to break into committees.”

Utilizing Student Council leadership experience, junior officers Brett Jordan and Maggie Richardson joined Rankin and Pointer in creating two specialized planning teams. While Jordan and Pointer spearheaded decoration efforts, Rankin and Richardson focused on the event’s promotion. 

“We picked the groups based on what we know about people and their strong suits,” Rankin said. “If anyone had strong [opinions] about being in a committee, we let them change.”

As the structural aspects of coordination began to fall into place, the planning shifted to the elephant in the room — theme. 

“It was a very long process,” Rankin said. “We started out by letting everyone put all their ideas on the table — just getting everything out there. Then we let people think for a week to digest what would be the best idea.”

Though many themes sounded appealing on paper, ease and effectiveness of execution guided decision making.

“We started thinking logically,” Rankin said. “How would this pan out? How would you work this? Where would you put those decorations?”

After much deliberation, the Prom Committee came away with an idea that coalesced several unique elements into a central focus.

“Our theme was interesting because it was a mix of two or three separate themes we had originally mentioned,” Pointer said. “We liked euphoric, dark lighting, and we wanted to tie in a garden aspect to it, so we decided it was going to be ‘A Night Under the Stars.’”

With a plan set in motion, the promotion team embarked on its advertising initiative. 

“We made a lot of posters to put up around school and invitations that every senior received,” Rankin said. “We also made the slow reveal [posts] on our Instagram to promote it to the student body.”

In stark contrast to Student Council’s lofty dance budgets, the Prom Committee faced the added task of fundraising for the expensive event. 

“We did two bake sales, and those have actually been really big money makers,” Rankin said. “Then we got a lot of donations from parents, which was fabulous.”

The morning of, committee members reported to Hilltop for roughly four hours of decorating. Thankfully for the group, extra assistance was provided at the dance. 

“Honestly for prom itself, we hired some sophomores, made a SignUp Genius and had them do most of the work,” Rankin said.

Though the tasks could be tedious at times, Rankin and Pointer agreed that the dance experience created for BV students made all efforts worthwhile. 

“I hope it’s something everyone can remember and tell their kids about — like, ‘Oh my gosh, I had so much fun in my junior or senior prom,’” Rankin said. “Maybe [prom committee] isn’t the center of that, but we accent everyone’s night so that they can have the prom of their dreams.”