Seneca Valley Prom Committee Constructs Memories

When the final dance ended at last year’s prom, Kelly Weston started planning for this year’s event, which will be Friday at The Cathedral in New Castle.  

Weston, a chemistry teacher at , is in her third year as senior class advisor, which also puts her in charge of the prom committee. Weston and a group of about 20 Seneca Valley seniors plan, organize and decorate for the prom. They also put together the school's prom fashion show in February.

Besides decorating for the grand march at the high school and the prom, the committee arranges the entertainment, food, ticket sales and transportation.

For Weston, consistency never fails her.

“Every time we find something that works, we stick with it,” she said. “Most kids only go to prom once, so it doesn’t get boring.”

This is the third year that Seneca Valley will have its prom at The Cathedral, and the school has the site booked for the next two years. Weston knows a buffet featuring snacks and hors d’oeuvres works better than a sit-down dinner.

She also has learned over the years that ventriloquists are somewhat “freaky,” so she sticks with only a disc jockey and a photo booth.

Although some aspects of prom stay the same, the theme always changes. Weston and the senior volunteers create the theme then coordinate the decorations.

The theme this year is “Another Night, Another City,” and four cities – Pittsburgh, Paris, Honolulu and Tokyo – will be on display Friday. The four separate rooms at The Cathedral each will be decorated as one of the cities and have their own color scheme. The grand march will take on the form of a generic cityscape.

The committee will decorate on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Each of the rooms and the grand march will have a student leading a group dedicated to that location’s decorations.

Senior Camaria Lehman is head of the grand march. Weston said Lehman is “the prom committee girl.” Lehman became involved with prom committee for the organizational aspect. She also is the head of ticket sales; she will keep track of the almost 600 tickets sold for the event.

Lehman admitted she still has a lot of work ahead to pull off the dance, but that just makes her more excited for the actual prom night.  

“Once I realized how much effort it takes to put it together, I am looking forward to [prom] more,” she said.

Lehman said all the seniors on prom committee have become close during the planning process and expect to enjoy the night as a group. After spending so much time to execute and decorate for the prom -- plus minding their individual school work and senior projects -- the night will be a much needed break.

“Once everyone gets there, it’s a nice, stress-relieving evening,” Weston said. “We want everyone to have as much fun as possible.”