Parents and students may be taking on bigger roles, but it seems proms at three county high schools will be going forward this year.
The annual rite of passage appeared to be in jeopardy across the province this spring when the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation (OSSTF) instructed its members to withdraw from extracurricular activities earlier this year.
The order, in response to the province’s passage of Bill 115 and its imposed teacher contracts, was withdrawn in late February, but it remained unclear what percentage of teachers would return to offering extracurricular activities, which also include Sports teams and class trips.
Locally, the Advertiser received several calls in recent weeks from concerned parents of students at Centre Wellington District High School (CWDHS) in Fergus, who had heard the school would not be offering a prom this year.
But according to vice principal Pamela Eurig, that was never the case.
“One way or another … something was going to happen to put prom together,” said Eurig, who noted school board officials instructed principals to ensure there was a prom at every school.
“There were question marks about what it would look like, but at Centre Wellington it was never in question.”
However, Grade 12 student Jami Fleming, who is helping to organize this year’s prom, said students did not feel that way from the outset.
“We felt it was completely in jeopardy in the beginning,” Fleming said. “Now we’re a little more happy that it’s going on.”
She explained one of the main concerns was money, but organizers have now made a down payment at the Guelph Place Banquet Hall for a June 7 event.
Fleming said students are hopeful local businesses will help to raise funds now that CWDHS principal Beth Burns has signed on as event advisor.
Students are planning a couple fundraisers – in addition to a bottle drive already held – to help pay for the event and they hope to get word out via social media websites.
Eurig said “plans are underway” for the June 7 event, with about 30 students involved in the process. She noted the school already has enough parent and staff volunteers to supervise the event.
In fact, Eurig said, the only real difference students will notice with this year’s ceremony is it will be held about a week later than usual.
Fleming said students, as usual, are excited about the prom, and they are pleased teachers are again offering extracurricular activities.
“I think everyone’s just happy they’re getting to do what they love again,” she said, adding some extracurricular activities at the school were never disrupted.
Other high schools
At Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston, principal Scot Bishop says there has never been a question the prom would be held.
“We’re full go,” said Bishop, noting that while a student committee plays a large role in organizing the event, “there has to be teacher supervision.” Bishop said Norwell teachers have been providing the full range of extracurricular activities all year.
“Norwell is really a part of the community. It’s a real focus of the community, maybe because we’re a small rural community, and the teachers here really feel that and endorse that,” he noted. “All our extracurriculars here have been full go despite the labor unrest.”
The situation is the same at Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest.
“As far as extracurriculars are concerned there have been no changes whatsoever at Wellington Heights all this year. All our extracurriculars are running. Prom is a go – it’s already in the planning stages by our prom committee and the theme is ‘Old Hollywood,’” said principal Brian Serafini.
“At Wellington Heights everything is status quo and we’re looking forward to our Old Hollywood prom at the beginning of June.”
