They wanna dance with somebody. Modesto students make pitch for outdoor proms
High school students and their supporters made a prom proposal, or promposal, to the Modesto City Schools board Monday night: Let students have seniors-only, outdoor proms following federal Centers for Disease Control guidance on large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students from multiple MCS high schools gathered outside the Board of Education meeting room, some wearing prom dresses, as 1979’s “Funky Town” and other songs played on a portable music system.
A couple of girls wore sashes that read “Vaccinated Queen.” Demonstrators held signs with messages including “Last dance, last chance,” “I wanna dance with somebody” and “We’ll make it a safe(ty) dance,” a nod to Men Without Hats’ 1982 hit, “Safety Dance.”
Downey High senior Jenna Watkins said she and her classmates envision a prom on the football field, which allows for social distancing. There would be formal wear and music. As for dancing, “I think we would want that, but we’d understand if that wouldn’t be available.”
The event might not have all the traditional elements of a prom, like a photo booth, Watkins said, “but we could incorporate new things like cornhole and other outdoor games.”
Downey senior class President Avery Cloward, who would address the board a little later in the evening, said she anticipates rules for admittance, such as proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within, say, three days before prom.
She said students would wear masks, maintain social distance “as best as we could” and likely would stay within groups that include close friends and their dates.
Not just safer, but more inclusive
Cloward and other students also said that sanctioned proms are safer than likely alternatives. “I think it’s the same reason why we have sober grad (night), so people don’t get drunk or high and then get into car crashes at the end of graduation,” she said. “... If the board doesn’t approve it, people are gonna have their own unsafe prom, and then they might bring COVID back to school.”
Enochs senior Emma Garber, who also spoke before trustees, made the case that an outdoor prom not only would be safe, but inclusive. It would include “a wider range of students — students like me who wouldn’t be comfortable in a large, enclosed room with loud music. I’ve never enjoyed that, so I haven’t really been able to participate in school dances in the past.”
Her school has a large quad, where there could be tables with assigned seating for students when they’re not dancing, Garber said. When they are dancing, couples or small groups could make sure they’re not too close to other students.
Cloward told the Board of Education that an outdoor prom, especially for seniors only, would be safer than lunchtime on the high school campuses, where on April 26, the A and B cohorts will merge to allow students to attend in person all days but Wednesdays. “Right now, we all have one lunch, and we’re all in the quad and ... everyone has their masks off” because they’re eating, she said.
Sixteen people — students and family members — submitted written comments to the board, all in support of outdoor proms.
“I’m hoping that you treat this senior class as if it is your own children who lost some of the most valuable moments of their childhood,” Downey senior Fiona McInnes Messamer wrote.
Downey parent Davina Cipriano said the alternative to district-supported proms will be parent- and student-planned events, which most likely will not have safety protocols or rules enforced.
“They need a good ending — an exclamation point”
A Downey junior, Maddie Van Diepen, wrote that rapid COVID tests could be administered to students as is done with athletes, to ensure all promgoers are healthy. “I am a junior and I would love to have a prom,” she said, “but I am willing to give that up to make it happen for the seniors.”
Downey High English and leadership teacher Valerie Sutter went to bat for the students, telling trustees the teens are “extremely passionate” on this topic and she values that they expressed their concern in an appropriate manner. “We have taught them that collaboration and connection and relationship build campus climate and culture,” Sutter said. “This is their culture, and they need a good ending — an exclamation mark, not a period.”
No response was immediately available Tuesday from the district.
Garber said she’ll be disappointed if the Board of Education doesn’t back the prom proposals. “They’re going to do what they think is best,” she said ahead of the meeting, “and we can’t ask anything more of anyone than do what you think is best.”
But she said she hopes trustees keep in mind that they can’t control what students do outside of school. “If students are gonna make bad choices outside of school, then they’re going to,” she said. “I know they obviously don’t want that and they’re going to try to protect students. They care about us.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
