On September 26th, 2024, the Junior Prom was announced to the Junior body during Advisory in the Cafeteria, along with fundraisers to help support it. Even with the announcement and the excitement brought by the Junior Student Government, the Junior Prom Committee has growing concerns about how kids seem to be less interested this time around in funding the Prom and going to the Prom itself.
Planning for the Junior Prom began during the middle of last school year. Colleen Couch, a guidance counselor at Morgan, Karla Rivadeneira, a Spanish teacher, and Jacquelyn Ciarleglio, a junior, all stepped up to be managers of the Junior prom. Their jobs are to plan how the Prom will go and what sort of fundraisers or school activities will be engaging for the students to help fund the Prom. Some of these upcoming fundraisers include selling popcorn, pies, cookies, and wreaths.
When the Prom was in its early stages of planning back in January, a Google form was sent out to decide which location was most favorable to the student body. The winner ended up being Amerantes, a seaside event holder in New Haven that is famous locally for its pristine location, great food, and beautiful views. The problem was, only about 20 kids ended up answering this form, which was a significantly low turnout because of how many students make up the Junior body.
Mrs. Rivadeneira, who was upset by the low number of responses, said, “We had about maybe 20 people who responded. We did push for a majority of people to choose the Prom venue, but again only about 20 people chose.” Though it was explained later that most of the Junior body generally wanted to go to Amarantes for their Prom due to word of mouth, it was still worrying for the managers that they got such few answers on the official form.
Another recent worry was about the turnout to Powderpuff this year compared to last, which is being held on the 26th of October at Joel School’s Peters Complex at 2:00 PM.
Last year Powderpuff was one of the main fundraisers for the Prom, while now it’s seeing a lot less traffic from the student body, either due to students being too busy to attend, or students’ lack of care for supporting the school and its activities.
One potential reason the turnout has been poor is due to a scheduling issue with a main part of the Powderpuff team, many of whom had a match on the same day of the fundraiser. Ciarleglio said, “The date that we set for Powderpuff, October 26th, we have a Shorelines game, and so we are planning on pushing the date out – not only for the girls’ soccer team but also volleyball, because they also have issues with the schedule.”
The main concern going forward for the Prom Committee stems from how the student body generates the funds to pay for prom. If less students are participating in fundraisers, that means less money that goes to supporting the Prom.
The Prom managers hold meetings every Friday that go over plans to create fundraisers and how to promote them. Anyone else in the student body is welcome to attend these meetings if they have their own ideas for getting kids to attend the fundraisers to support the prom. The committee is looking for help.
“Our meetings are always open, we have meetings almost every Friday in my room, so people are always welcome to join,” said Mrs. Rivadeneira.
Future Fundraiser for the Junior Class:
Double Good Popcorn:
The popcorn will be sold again like it was last year due to how well it did with the student body. The popcorn gets sold online, where students or parents can make orders to get certain flavors shipped to their house. This fundraiser did very well, making over $300 for the Prom. Mrs. Rivadeneira said, “The popcorn is just a really simple fundraiser, you click on the link, you get the popcorn, and you order it right to your house. You don’t have to pick it up, so it’s just simple and easy.”
Pies & Wreaths:
The pies and wreaths will be sold as seasonal fundraisers that will be held during November and December respectively to try and make them more profitable due to the holidays. They were thought up this year by the Junior Prom Committee so they could capitalize on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are popular times in the year to buy gifts for others.
Randy’s Cookies:
Randy’s Cookies will be sold at the up-and-coming Volleyball Senior Night on the 18th of October. Last year, when cookies were sold at Swoosh for Change, they were a big hit with the student body. The Prom committee hopes they will be one of the main treats you could buy while watching the game when the Seniors go up against Hale Ray.
Powderpuff:
Powderpuff is one of the most important fundraisers for the Prom, as there generally is an excellent turnout from the student body. However, this year, there is growing concern regarding the success of this fundraiser.