Bradley hosts a fun, in-person prom for students after a pandemic school year

Ashleigh Owens, Assistant Editor-in-Chief

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

Zack Langer (12) and Maria Martin (12) slow dance together after being crowned Prom Queen and King. Photo by Ashleigh Owens (12).

It’s prom season! This past Saturday we had our own prom right here at Hilliard Bradley and it was an awesome time! There was music, dancing, food, fun and friends to start ending this school year for students. For many, it was a sense of normalcy after a year filled with our share of disappointment and missing out on life both in and out of school.

Students seemed to enjoy the opportunity to get dressed up and spend time with friends. Olivia Johnson (12) said that she loved the “Cupid Shuffle” and being able to hang out on the dance floor! There were definitely quite a few throwback songs played at prom this year by the entertainment “Felix and Fingers”. This is a dueling piano group that students were able to listen and dance to while at prom! Kyle Metzler (10) added on by saying his “favorite part of prom was definitely dancing to [his] heart’s content with [his] friends! [He] had so much fun and can’t wait to go again next year!” It’s so great to know that students had such a great time at prom this year, and The Jaguar Times can’t wait for next year either!

In order for students to have such a great night, a lot of time and effort went into planning this year’s prom.

Mr. Gerber was someone in charge of putting on prom, and he explained that “Prom this year was different, but it was nice to see the tradition come back again. We received a lot positive feedback during and after the event, so I am glad to know the students had a good time.” After a pandemic school year, many students were excited to have a dance. Especially seniors, who now were able to make one last high school dance memory!

Prom night at the Makoy Center was a success this year. Photo by Ashleigh Owens (12).

Prom wasn’t too different this year, however. As Mr. Gerber explained, “Besides the entertainment and the masks, this year’s prom looked very similar to proms in the past. Everyone got to dress up, dance, and see their friends. It was a great evening!” In addition to mask wearing, one major difference from past proms was the music. Mr. Gerber shared that “Our entertainment was a dueling piano music group. This was different than a traditional DJ service, so it was fun to see everyone dancing, singing along to the music, and having a good time”. Dancing and music really can heal the soul, so it’s great that students were able to enjoy a night out with friends to dress up and dance. Thank you to all the teachers who made the night possible, we appreciate your hard work so much!

We hope everyone who went to prom had a wonderful time! For our seniors, we’ll miss you next year and look forward to this next month and all the fun activities that are planned. Everyone else, we hope to see you at prom next year and hope those of you who came had a good experience! We are very lucky and happy to have had a mostly normal prom this year, so a huge shoutout to all the staff and students who made it happen.

Happy prom season and as always, go Jags!