Hanover High School senior Ariel Lindgren tries on prom dresses at Lex’s of Carytown. She plans to attend a small private prom hosted by parents and unaffiliated with her school. (Photo by Julianne Tripp)
With the onset of the pandemic in the United States in March 2020, proms, like most events, were canceled, and high school seniors finished out the school year from their bedrooms. For many, prom is a rite of passage, a final celebration with classmates before everyone embarks on the next chapter of their lives. Unfortunately, 2021’s prom season is shaping up to be a repeat of last year, with public schools canceling proms.
Danielle Pierce, a spokesperson for Richmond Public Schools, says in an email, “RPS is currently virtual, so we will not host prom this year. We know that this is disappointing for many students, and we are exploring other ways to celebrate our seniors.”
As of press time, Henrico County Public Schools spokesperson Andy Jenks says state and local health guidance is being monitored as prom season nears to determine a final decision.
Chris Whitley, a spokesperson with Hanover County Public Schools, says in an email, “While the governor has expanded the allowable size of indoor and outdoor gatherings, the adjusted capacities remain well below what is needed to accommodate all of our seniors for prom. Unfortunately, similar to last year, prom is one of the many significant occasions that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.” As of press time, under Virginia’s Executive Order 72, social gatherings are limited to 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors.
In a year that has already been difficult for students adjusting to virtual learning and navigating the loss of social activities, not having prom has been an added challenge. “I think what we all learned from last year is the biggest thing about a prom is it’s a big transitional event,” says licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Summit Emotional Health Matt Bitsko. “You have the homecoming, and now it’s prom, and then it leads to graduation and then moving on to the next phase. So these transitional events are really, really important as a rite of passage for us.”
Bitsko says if students can be creative and figure out a way to have a safe event that is meaningful to them, it can help with that transition.
Some parents and students have decided to take matters into their own hands by hosting their own events. From small backyard gatherings to larger planned affairs, many are looking for creative ways for teens to safely experience this rite of passage.
“It’s kind of something you idealize just all through your school years, so to have that taken away right as you get to your 12th year of school is sad.” —Hannah Gee, senior at Douglas S. Freeman High School
Lisa McSherry, owner of formalwear store Lex’s of Carytown, says one group of shoppers at her business was organizing a small “Alice in Wonderland”- themed brunch outside. “What I would encourage, what would come out of this, is hire the photographer, get the dress, do the hair and makeup, plan a little special function, and get some great pictures out of it,” she says.
Ariel Lindgren, a senior at Hanover High School, purchased her dress from Lex’s, an experience she was excited for in preparation for a Hanover parent-organized prom scheduled for May. The barn venue event in Hanover County is unaffiliated with the school. Lindgren says, “Your senior prom is a really big rite of passage, so I’m very grateful that [the parents are] doing this for us.”
As the parent of a senior attending Monacan High School in Chesterfield, Nicole Eagle says she’s hosting 15 students for a backyard event on her property this month. “They’ve just missed everything this year, so my husband and I felt they deserved something special,” Eagle says. Designed to be as close to a traditional experience as is safely possible, Eagle is organizing the event with a few other parents for her daughter, Rylee French, and fellow seniors from the school’s Humanities Center. “I feel like, as moms especially, we all want to be a part of it, too, and we’ve missed out on some of their senior [moments] as well, so hopefully it will give my circle some goodness,” she says.
Ava Khan, a senior at Mills E. Godwin High School in Henrico, is planning to attend a senior spring dance at the Richmond Country Club organized by a group of parents. “We’re missing out on so many senior traditions that it just means so much that these parents understood what it meant,” she says. The invite-only event is unaffiliated with the school.
Hannah Gee, a senior at Henrico’s Douglas S. Freeman High School, is holding out hope that her school will be able to host some version of a prom-style event. “It’s kind of something you idealize just all through your school years, so to have that taken away right as you get to your 12th year of school is sad,” she says.
Seniors such as Luke Freisner, who attends Monacan High School, is unsure of what he will do in lieu of his school prom. “I’m just seeing where the wind blows,” he says.
One thing holds true for proms in 2021: They will not look the same. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Gee says, “I think that it’s really important for us to make the lemonade out of lemons and be able to do something either way, and I think quarantine and COVID has taught us all a lot about creating creative solutions to things and just using our imaginations and everything to be able to find ways to keep traditions alive.”
