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.

“I cried inside because everyone was there. I even had teachers who went,” said senior Emily Banks, who considered skipping her American Government and AP Literature class to attend the parade. “It definitely would have been worth going. If the pattern continues it will be another fifty something years until anything like this happens again.”

Other die-hard fans, who did attend the parade, agreed it was worth the blemish on their attendance record. Senior Kyle McCabe said, “It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was a magical season and to be on the ride was incredible.”

Within the San Francisco school district, close to 2,000 teenagers failed to show up for class and some schools were even given the day off, and overall the parade drew nearly a million people. Nearly a quarter of Tam’s students chose to see Brian Wilson’s beard over learning about mitosis.

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