Alongside the glamor of dazzling gowns and a Prom Court crowning, Shorewood experienced a night of unforgettable memories.

Jessica McCabe, administrative assistant and Prom organizer, had a feeling Prom would be a hit from the number of tickets sold and enthusiasm from students prior to the event. 

“I will definitely say this is the most Prom tickets I’ve ever sold since I’ve been in charge of [selling], which has been really awesome,” said McCabe. “I would definitely say this year was the most fun that I’ve seen from the kids. They were definitely high energy.”

Although McCabe is responsible for organizing Prom, its style is left for the Prom Committee to plan.

“I do big things in the sense of picking the date, looking at different venues, [making reservations] that side of things,” McCabe said. “And then once I have those things picked, I bring it back to the committee, [who] really vote and decide on what they would like their Prom to look like. I just kind of helped their vision come true.”

Breckan Henkhaus, junior on the Prom Committee, channeled her inner party planner when brainstorming ideas for Prom.

“I love organizing and planning events, and I love being able to bring the ideas to life,” Henkhaus said.

The Prom Committee values the feedback they receive from students and makes changes to better the event.

“Last year, many people brought up issues with ticket prices being too high, so this year we tried our best to make them more affordable,” Henkhaus said. “We knew that the student body liked the photo booth in the past, so we made it a priority to have that again this year.”

For Prom Queen Jillian Beaster, the event was a perfect second-to-last hurrah for the senior class.

“It was really great to see everyone happy and in a good mood,” Beaster said. “It was very nice to be there with everyone again one last time.”

From board games to foam axe throwing, students were kept entertained throughout the night.

“This year we had a photo booth and we had casino games, foam ax throwing, and bags,” McCabe said.

Senior students found sentiment behind playing board games with each other.

“That’s something you don’t do everyday, play blackjack with the kid you went to first grade with,” Beaster said.

For many students, the venues and games lived up to their expectations.

“Lots of people loved the casino theme, and many people were learning how to play the casino games we had,” Henkhaus said. “Lots of people loved the venue and the location of the venue as well.”

From McCabe’s perspective, all the attendees were enjoying themselves at Prom.

“I was really happy to see how you could tell that the kids were having fun,” McCabe said.

“My favorite part was definitely the venue,” Beaster said. “I was definitely pleasantly surprised. The vibe there was just really cool. The photobooth was [also] my favorite part.”

After missing out on Prom Court last year, this year’s seniors were able to run for Prom Court instead of the typical junior runnings.

“This year [we brought] back the Prom Court,” McCabe said. “Last year’s Prom decided that because [the juniors last year] missed out on the Prom Court, they really wanted to shift it to Senior Prom Court.”

Even though she was nominated for Prom Court, Beaster didn’t anticipate being crowned Prom Queen.

“I was sure that my friends would vote for me and the day of [Prom] I did go around and campaign, but then I let fate take the wheel,” Beaster said. “It would’ve been a nice surprise but I wasn’t expecting anything. It was fun to just be on Prom court.”

Beaster enjoyed being able to celebrate her crowning with her friends.

“The suspense was there,” Beaster said. “[Henkhaus and Alice Drummond] walked down the line… then they stopped at me and took the really high-quality tiara off the tray and put it on my head.”

Our Prom Queen thanks her subjects and is honored to have been crowned.

“Thank you, everyone, it’s my honor,” Beaster said. “It’s been a great year.”