Tam’s prom moved away from tradition when the school invited juniors to the typically seniors-only end of the year dance. This change, believed to help the school economically, has prompted uproar amongst the student body. Tam joined the rest of the district in the decision to have a junior-senior prom.

Leadership student Robin Weisselberg said, “People may not go because they are upset that prom is combined with both grades, though it isn’t changing. So you can either get over it and have a good dance or not go and ultimately have a crappy dance the following year with the lack of money.” Weisselberg estimated adding juniors to the dance will lower ticket pricing from $120 to around $80.

Former junior leadership student Ivy Ryan said that there were multiple reasons for the change.

“Prom is an expensive event and the low attendance rate to winter formal last year put the class of 2011 in a fix for money. Winter formal’s profit margin as well as attendance rate has been declining in recent years. This decline in winter formal’s profit has led to an increase in the cost of prom tickets to an almost unaffordable cost for many students.”

In response, the classes of 2011 and 2012 came up with a solution that would lower the high-ticket cost for next year by allowing juniors to attend prom.

Senior leadership student Olivia Trombadore said, “The reasons that we are changing prom from senior to junior-senior is mainly because we want to get off the [cruise on San Francisco Bay]. We always get bad feedback about it being too long, boring, bad food, etcetera.”

Trombadore said that because the class of 2011 has so few students, more people would need to be invited. “This means that we are getting a bigger venue where we can have more activities besides dancing and eating. In order to have a successful, crackin’ prom we need more people. More people equal a better party.”

Juniors Ashley Laury and Justice Kelley agreed that prom should be reserved for just seniors. Laury said, “I don’t think I will be attending, unless I was asked by a senior.” Kelley said, “It’s a celebration of the end of the end of the year and the fact that seniors made it.”

Senior Daniel Rosic thinks the memories behind the event would be diluted if juniors were to be invited. “Prom is kind of a big deal. It’s more meaningful if you only go once in high school than multiple times.”

Written by Courtney Woods. This article originally appeared in the December 2010 issue.