For Junior Class Council, getting ready for prom not only means buying a dress or renting a tux and finding a date, but includes months of planning every little detail of the big night. This year’s prom theme, Old Hollywood, was decided back in October. Per tradition, the theme was chosen by the junior class.

This year, in order to make the workload more manageable, Class Council split up into smaller sub-committees that cover every facet of prom from designing the prom logo to decorations and ticket distribution.

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of planning prom is maintaining the budget, which is where the Fundraising Committee comes in. In order to accumulate enough money to pull off the dance, the committee organizes several fundraisers in addition to working concession shifts at football and basketball games. This year, the juniors on the committee have mostly chosen food fundraisers, the latest one having occurred on Dec. 2 at Noodles & Co.

“It has been pretty successful,” Class Council President junior Sara Sheridan said. “We try to get the word out early and try to put it everywhere, so everyone is aware of how important they are to us.”

Food fundraisers have proven to be effective in previous years as well, mainly because it is a convenient way for students who are constantly going out to lunch to contribute to prom. Possible upcoming prom fundraisers may include restaurants like Grande Jakes, Chipotle or Jamba Juice.

Since fundraising for prom relies solely on the engagement of students, staff and parents, a greater participation in fundraisers equates to more flexibility with planning prom and more opportunities to do something different. Most notably, this year Class Council has invested in a different larger, inflatable photo booth with LED lights.

Also, the venue will be Meridian Banquets, rather than the Meadows Club, where prom has been held in previous years. The Class Council will decide on other changes to incorporate after they assess how much money has been made at the end of all fundraisers.

“Go out and participate in some of those fundraisers,” Junior Class Sponsor Angela Kumler said. “Even just you going to lunch and grabbing Noodles, if half the students did that we’d be able to gain a lot of money and really make something different with prom this year.”

Ultimately, Class Council hopes to plan a prom that will not only fit the budget, but also appeal to everyone.

“We’re planning an event that’s going to hopefully get the interest of all types of students not just necessarily just one group that always goes to prom,” Kumler said.