Still not a full-fledged version, but senior proms try to get their groove back

Ashley Wise is still a junior at Glenbrook North, but her energy around the school's May 29 senior prom translates loud and clear over the phone.

"I'm very, very, very excited. I'm so excited to be able to throw this for the seniors and also go to it with the Junior Board. I haven't been to a dance in a very long time, and so it'll be exciting to get back in that groove," she exclaimed.

"I'm just excited that the seniors get this opportunity, that's what I'm excited about the most."

She and some 25 others on the Glenbrook North's Junior Board, along with staff members, are sussing out the details of the interactive photo booth, arcade games, fun giveaways, decorations and such for the school's senior prom that spans both the Grand Ballroom and the Grand Marquee Pavilion at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort.

Glenbrook South's senior prom - like at North, organized by juniors along with staff so the seniors don't have to worry about it - will be held this Saturday, May 15, at Pinstripes in Northbrook, bowling and all. Glenbrook South typically holds prom at a hotel or the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center.

"We're back at a traditional-style prom," said Glenbrook North English teacher Danielle Fluegge, a student activities coordinator helping the juniors make it happen along with student activities director Mike Tarjan and principal Jason Markey.

"Truly, we are thrilled, and hopefully the kids will have as much fun as the Junior Class Board and the administration have had in planning it," Fluegge said.

Glenbrook North's first off-campus activity in two years will be more traditional than the pair of "virtual" proms it held in 2020 after it struck home that the coronavirus would hang around longer than spring break.

Holding it in two ballrooms - a combined 22,080 square feet of space - indicates it's still an event held during a pandemic.

The 334 seniors registered for the Glenbrook North event and the 350 who signed up for Glenbrook South's prom will attend observing 3-foot social distancing and wearing masks atop their formalwear. They'll arrive and depart in smaller, designated groups at staggered time periods. At the end of their stay, they'll take away boxed dinners or snacks.

Their day and night may include pictures or a sit-down dinner elsewhere, as each of the four time slots at the deejay-stocked Marriott will last about an hour and a half, starting at 3:45 p.m. with the last group coming in at 9 p.m.

Time slots are the case with Glenbrook South's prom, too.

"Some people might see the differences in this year as a bad thing, but I think it's all about perspective," said Glenbrook South senior Anthony Travlos, excited with the Pinstripes location.

"We're very lucky to be having a prom, I'm super-thankful for the opportunity to be able to go, and I truly think this is going to be one of the most fun nights of my life and definitely a lifelong memory."

Promgoers don't need to have been vaccinated for COVID-19, but complicating things for Fluegge's team and for Heather Chambers, Glenbrook South social studies teacher and lead prom organizer, is that there's a limit of 50 unvaccinated people to a room, or 100 vaccinated people. Because of the pandemic the proms are open only to Glenbrook seniors, no dates allowed from other schools.

It does help, as Markey said at Monday's District 225 board meeting, that around 80% of Glenbrook North students have reported receiving vaccinations.

"To me it's shocking," Fluegge said. "I was ready to plan a prom for no vaccinated kids, but it's truly remarkable what our administration has done to provide vaccinations for both the Glenview and Northbrook communities."

District 225 communications specialist Christina Salonikas said students attending prom will have to submit a saliva test a week before the prom, and rapid testing will be made available if necessary.

Nothing screams romance like "rapid testing," but there still will be dancing at the Marriott and on Pinstripes' outdoor patio, chaperoned to ensure the dance floor doesn't get too crowded.

"Even though it may not look or feel like a prom pre-pandemic, it gives them an opportunity to participate in a longtime high school tradition," Salonikas said.

All the particulars and the timing are not fully set, but Wise said the crew of Glenbrook North juniors will clean the Marriott ballrooms and disinfect surfaces between each shift, then check in the next group of seniors.

Even with the cleaning, she sounds pleased as punch.

"All I think about is how excited I am to do this and how excited I am for the seniors to be able to do this," she said.

"Especially this year we're trying to make it as special as possible, because they've missed out on so much."