Prom Time

Waiting for the Prom to begin.

 As the end of the school year approaches, one of the biggest events in this small village occurs.  It is time for the prom, when everyone gets their big opportunity to dress up and be a king or queen for one night.

There are no hotels out here, although the city is hoping to convert one of the buildings into a hotel but at the moment, the prom is held at the school in the cafeteria. 

The prom locally is very different from those held in most cities in that anyone in grade 6 or above is invited, including community members.

Photos taken here.

 Saturday night's theme was "A Night in Paris".  Few if any will ever leave the state but still they have dreams and they want their prom to allow them to escape, even if for just a night.

They set up their photo area in the entry to the school, against the wall nearest the gym.  The small pieces of paper are signs like wonderful, respect each other, etc.

The juniors are in charge of setting up the prom, so they started assembling it on Friday and finished on Saturday, just before the prom was due to start.

Eiffel Tower

 The Eiffel Tower was one of the more popular photography spots because it had lights so if you didn't have flash, you could still get a picture.  One of the young ladies brought a date who was under one year old.  She brought her baby brother as her date.  No he wasn't there all evening, just long enough to get his picture taken in "Paris" before she took him home.

The turn out community wise was not a good as normal.  Around the beginning of the dance, we were told a coworkers mother died from pneumonia.  She'd been fighting cancer, picked up a bug that went into pneumonia, and passed on from it.

That means later this week or possibly early next week there will be a funeral and school gets out early for it.  This did not stop the young ones from coming. 

Door to the Gym

 They even covered the door to the gym so students couldn't accidentally wander in there.  The door is between the photography area and the Eiffel Tower.

They had some benches scattered through this area where I spent much of the time available to snap photos of the kids with their camera's or tie boy's ties because they don't know how to do it.

The benches were located over near the bathrooms so I got to watch the girls and boys run back and forth between the cafeteria and the bathrooms.  Many of the girls wore heels so they clomped back and forth, often times sounding like a heard of elephants.  Often the shoes were bit too big while other times, the girls carried the shoes because they were too "high".
 It

Entrance to the Prom itself in the cafeteria.

 At the entrance to the cafeteria, there stood two lights.  The prom is held in the cafeteria so the juniors can heat up finger foods such a pizza, make punch (no alcohol its a dry village), or put out more jello or fry bread.  Off to the sides were tables covered in pink paper and placed in the alcove leading to the gym stood the DJ and his equipment.

Usually they get someone in the village to do it but this time the husband of the second grade teacher provided services.  He had some really nice music with no swear words and it was great to dance to.

 I snapped a shot of the prices.  As usual the cost of going in formal wear is much cheaper than going in casual.  I don't think the prices have changed at all in the whole time I've been here.

The only thing different is the time.  Usually it runs 7 PM to Midnight due to the police wanting everyone under the age of 18 home by midnight. 

They always notify the police of any events so they know the kids might be out a bit late.  Also the police tend to stop by and hand out for a bit to check things out.  As I said, its a whole community event.

Just anted to share a taste of a prom held in a village in Bush Alaska.  Hope you enjoyed the visit.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

Prom Night

  I will preface this by saying I am a lousy photographer when its kind of dark.  I finally found the flash but  it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.  I got some great photos and some lousy photos.  I did not get any of the cafeteria because the lights were extremely low and I couldn't get any that turned out.  The prom had higher prices for those coming in casual than those who came dressed up.  Many of the girls came in casual but changed in the girls bathroom.  Many of the boys didn't know how to tie their ties, so I had the honor of tieing 10 ties.

 The above is the area across from the office designated for photographs.  It actually covers the door to the gym so no one can go in there.  To the left is a hall with the bathrooms and to the right is the cafeteria complete with food table, DJ, and dance space.  Today, the juniors will have to tear it down.

The boys in this picture are all in grades 6 to 8.  Notice three of them have ties and two have suit jackets.  This is a huge event because its the only time any one has the chance to dress formally.  They didn't do much except wander around but they looked so mature.

Some of them have grown 4 to 5 inches over the year.  The young man in the shirt was one of those who shot up.  I believe he is moving up to the high school next year.


The group to the right are the senior boys with their basket ball coach.  some of the young men are not graduating with their class but most are.  They look so mature compared to when they were freshmen.

I taught math to each and every one of them.  The young man in the hat only wears the hat on special occasions.  He is also the one who gets a long clip tie so he doesn't have to figure out how to tie it.

I don't know how many of them are going to college or into the military.  I know some will never leave the village.

The following pictures are of some of the young ladies for whom this is their only formal event of the year.

They buy dresses and shoes from Amazon.  Have friends or family members fix their hair and just come out to have fun.

 These two young ladies and the one above are high school students.  Sometimes they end up borrowing heels that are a bit big.  Some manage not to sound like elephants as they walk around.











This group are all related, sisters or cousins.  They love having pictures taken because they don't get much of a chance.

These three are great friends and decided to rest a moment between dance numbers.  The juniors placed chairs around so people could rest or enjoy a quick chat.










I hope you enjoy this glimpse at an Alaskan Village Prom.

Prom Time

  Tomorrow night is the Prom!  The proms out here are similar to those you've seen but they are also quite different. I'll explain about the proms held here and I'll provide pictures on Monday so you get an idea of what they do.

On Friday night and Saturday, the junior class spends the evening and day turning the entry and cafeteria into a wonderland straight out of a book.  I haven't asked what this year's them is but I know it will be great.

One bit thing is to cover all windows so the prom is cut off from the outside world.  A big difference is that the prom is open to everyone from 6th to 12th grade and sometimes even the community.  Its interesting seeing people from the communities coming with spouses and babies who are in formal wear.

In addition, the food provided is usually just finger food and snacks with some sort of punch.  The tables and chairs are often placed in the entry so they have more room in the cafeteria for dancing.  The food table is placed in front of the serving area so people can pop in and out with food as they replenish the goodies.

The DJ,  if you can call it that, is someone with music everyone likes.  Sometimes they get paid a bit but the school usually provides the speakers and sometimes even the computer.  They like the music loud enough to make everyone deaf so if I go, I stay in the hallway, away from the torture.

The juniors usually set up a nice photo area near the cafeteria entrance.  Sometimes they hire a person to take photos (the computer teacher or a parent) but usually I go over with my trusty iTouch and snap a ton load of pictures for students, the newsletter, and parents.

Most of the boys dress up in suits with ties but they've never learned to tie a tie so they ask me.  I've already had one student who wants me there to tie their tie.  Most of the girls do not dress in advance because of the dirt and mud outside.  They do not want their dresses to get dirty so they make sure their hair looks awesome, they have makeup on before arriving at school to take over the girls restroom. 

Many of the 6th to 8th grade girls borrow dresses and shoes so the items might be a bit large.  Few of the girls know how to walk in heals so there is a lot of clunking.  Many of the boys borrow a suit from a male family member so their suits don't fit quite right.

This is one of the few occasions these teens have to dress up. The other event is graduation so if they are a senior, they wear their suits or prom dresses under their gowns.  I love going and seeing how mature some of them look.

Come Monday, I'll share some pictures of the decorations so you get a feel for this wonderland created by the Juniors.

Have a good day.