Beyond the dresses, tuxes, photos and updos, prom night marks a milestone for area high schoolers.
According to history.com, the tradition of high school proms evolved from high society.
“In 18th- and 19th-century Europe, women participated in aristocratic formal dances and balls that grew in popularity, with debutante balls becoming common as coming-out ceremonies for the elite,” a March 2025 article on the site states. “According to the Oxford Dictionaries, the word promenade, defined as a leisurely walk or place for walking, is also used to describe movements in ballet and ballroom dancing. It morphed in the late 19th century when promenade concerts often included attendees dancing in formal attire during Ivy League college festivities.”
Proms for the masses, history.com says, likely began around 1879, at which time an issue of The Harvard Crimson referenced the college’s Junior Prom. And an 1895 photo in Smith College archives “shows a junior prom held at the school’s Alumnae Gymnasium.”
In her book “Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture,” quoted in the history.com piece, Amy Best referred to proms as “a democratized version of the debutante ball.”
“The prom afforded anyone attending high school the opportunity to feel as though they too were ‘coming out,’ that they could transcend the boundaries of class,” Best stated. “The message was that you did not have to be rich to wear a fancy frock, to be adorned with a corsage, or to waltz the night away.”
Today, the site states, proms “have evolved from semi-formal end-of-the-year dances held in school gyms to become a billion-dollar industry encompassing limousines, flowers, photography, special attire and over-the-top invitations.” Several online sources state that the average American family spends roughly $1,000 on prom.
At Unatego, senior class adviser Abby Costello, in her position for 10 years, said planning begins roughly a year ahead. Unatego cohosts its prom with neighboring Franklin Central School District.
“The first thing is, we always try to lock down a date, and we do that in conjunction with our DJ, because we find the DJ books the fastest,” she said. “And that’s usually the night of the prom that we book the next year’s date, so it’s way in advance.
“After that, it’s finding a venue, and we really try to stick to a venue that gives school groups a discount or ones that are easy to chaperone,” Costello continued. “We try to pick places where kids can’t get into trouble and kids are safe, and we pick a venue where we can coordinate dinner. We like to get kids to prom and keep them there, so there’s less chance of kids getting into trouble.”
Planning, Costello said, is coordinated among student-led committees at Unatego and Franklin.
“(Franklin prom adviser Cindy Ackerley) has one at Franklin and I have one at Unatego,” she said. “Mine is seniors, and they pay for the prom. They’re the class that has the prom, so it’s a group of seniors and, once we pick a theme — we get nominations — we do a vote between the two schools for the theme. Prom committee then decides what decorations and favors, any of that sort of stuff. We each decide on decorations, then Cindy and I talk to make sure we don’t duplicate. We have our own court and our own voting for king and queen, and we’ve done a good job of preserving and keeping traditions while doing it together.”
The Unatego committee, she said, meets roughly once a month, beginning in February, and has “about 10 students.”
Sidney Central School District’s high school principal, Maggie McNamara, said prom is similarly planned and executed there.
In a written statement, she said, “prom is coordinated by the Senior Class Staff Advisor and Senior Class Student Council Officers. The Advertising & Design Art Elective Course creates the tickets and flyers/posters, which are displayed as advertisements throughout the school. The Senior Class hosts multiple fundraisers throughout their four years of high school to help cover partial costs of prom and other senior events.”
McNamara said that the hardest part is “probably finding a date that there’s no other major events happening — FFA conference, field trips, sectionals — just finding a date where the majority of students don’t have a conflict.”
Sidney Superintendent Eben Bullock said, “Maggie starts over the summer and the seniors get together over the summer with the senior class adviser and start to plan out all the events for senior year.”
And students, sources said, engage well with the process and culminating event.
“I would say our prom is well attended,” McNamara said, noting that Sidney hosted its prom earlier this month. “Our juniors and seniors are the students invited to attend, but often they bring guests — underclassmen — and they’re allowed to bring out-of-district guests. They’re excited about it and work hard to qualify for it, because you have to be in good academic and behavioral standing, and many put in the extra effort.
“From my observations of students at the prom, they had a great time,” she continued. “They were excited and dancing and we had food, a DJ, a photo booth. I think they had a great time and we didn’t get any complaints. They really do have a lot of fun.”
“I never saw a dip in participation,” Bullock said. “I was a principal for 10 years, and Maggie has been here for four, and it’s always been extremely well attended. I was at a fundraising event the day after prom with a lot of kids and parents, and they were all talking about how much fun they had dancing all night long. We’re anywhere from 130 to 180 kids.” The Sidney senior class, he said, has 90 students.
Costello, too, said Unatego and Franklin kids exhibit a “high engagement level.”
“We have high attendance at prom,” she said. “Most years — and this includes kids bringing out-of-district guests — I sell about 100 tickets, and it’s mostly juniors and seniors, so it’s a lot of kids. Our prom is unique, because we have put it together with Franklin, and I just think the kids have fun with numbers and it gives more of an atmosphere and the dancefloor is more fun when there’s more kids. We’ve done a good job of maintaining a Franklin identity and a Unatego identity while they mix and, as our sports teams have become more mixed, the kids all know each other and it’s turned into a really good time. They really enjoy the dancing component and I can’t believe how long they dance and they’re always disappointed when it ends.”
Senior class fundraising efforts, sources said, help offset prom-related expenses amid rural demographics.
“(Prom is paid for by) a combination of some class funds from fundraising they’ve done since ninth grade, and we also sell tickets,” Costello said. “Because we do dinner, the ticket price is $50, and we’ve tried hard not to go above that. Paying for food is the biggest component, but that amount pays for dinner and the DJ and maybe a little left over for favors and decorations, but anything else not covered by ticket money is covered by class funds.
“When we get wind of kids who want to go to prom but maybe can’t afford clothes, we do have old prom dresses and donated prom dresses in our Spartan Closet,” she continued. “Usually, we can find someone who can help … and, if we have a kid that wants to go but can’t afford a ticket, we do have sources that help pay for tickets, and sometimes that’s individuals that donate and sometimes it’s groups, but usually we can find a way. We don’t want to exclude anyone.”
Sidney’s prom ticket price, McNamara said, was $25 per person or $40 per couple, which included entry to the venue, Far View Farm, the DJ, photo booth and decorations, refreshments and appetizers and desserts.
McNamara said that students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the venue, though it may be provided upon request for students who need it.
“The majority of costs are covered by the fundraising the students have done,” McNamara said.
“They’ve been fundraising for their senior year since freshman year,” Bullock said. “And our partnership with Far View Far is so good. They help with anything we want, from setup and teardown, and having a community partner like that is great.”
The collaborative spirit behind planning, sources said, makes the prom process rewarding.
“The best part of planning it is seeing the excitement of the students,” McNamara said. “One of our art elective courses takes on the challenge of the district as a client and the class comes up with the poster and designs a flyer for the prom, and students pick the one they like the best. It’s just seeing the students’ creativity that goes into it. It’s all student-led, and it’s been really cool and they do a really great job. That’s been a really cool part of the planning process, and applying the skills they have.”
“After 10 years, it’s not so hard to plan anymore — I know the venue, the DJ, the date, so the hard stuff is taken care of pretty quick,” Costello said. “But kids who are into prom get really excited and I love seeing them all dressed up and taking their pictures. It’s a fun night and, for the seniors, it caps off high school. I take a lot of pride and joy in helping them put on an event to celebrate the end of high school.”