Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
The Sidney High School prom will be held on Saturday at the Holiday Inn. The dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. and the prom starts at 9:00 p.m.
This year, however, the school decided to break from tradition. Students did not select presiding royalty. as Principal Chris Arent says, “Everyone is a king and queen on this prom night.”
Their decision is in line with current trends. More students and schools seem to be focusing on equality, hoping to avoid hurt feelings, jealousy or other issues.
A school in Waterbury, Conn., WF Kaynor Technical High School, dropped student voting for the king and queen. Instead, student names are put into a box and drawn randomly. When questioned, Kaynor Tech Principal Lisa Hylwa responded that teens otherwise think “Oh my goodness she was chosen as prom queen and I wasn’t. This eliminates all the poppycock.”
But what if there is no king and queen at all? Sidney High School junior class prom sponsor, Steve Hume, says that “All girls are queen on their prom night. No one is special. All are equal.”
Hume has been a sponsor of the SHS prom for a decade. Hume is calling it a day after this prom, along with Bob Wecher, who is also in his last year. Mindy Meier will be one of the junior class sponsors beginning with next year’s prom.
Wecher has been a sponsor since 1979, and he says that even for some time before that, he doesn’t recollect there being a king and queen of the prom at SHS.
Wecher says, “We feel that every young man and woman should be considered king and queen at their prom. No one is special. What makes one or two people special? Nothing. God created us all equal. That’s the way I run the prom.”
When asked about having a voting system similar to what some schools are doing, Wecher replied, “That would still put the spotlight on two people who don’t deserve it.”
As for how the prom works in the absence of royalty, Hume says that the sophomores serve dinner to everyone and the juniors decorate. He adds that the juniors must have sold mugs, work concessions and have decorated for seven hours in order to attend the prom. If they haven’t met this criteria, they can’t attend the prom.
Hume says that everyone must do their fair share. There will be no “freeloaders.”
He praises Junior Class President, Carson Langley, as one of the best and most organized president who he has ever worked with.
– Lisana Eckenrode
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