Kaitlyn Witts

Prom holds many connotations, and in modern media it is often portrayed as one of the biggest nights in a teenager’s life. While having the best date and planning a stunning outfit may be concerns of the student body, the atmosphere and experience of prom are on the shoulders of the prom committee.
The students and teacher behind Nixa High School’s prom committee work in the background to bring the theme to life and create an unforgettable night for those who attend.
History and psychology teacher, Jessica Durham, is the sponsor of the prom committee as of this year.
“This is my first year [running the prom committee],” Durham said. “Mrs. Petiford was the one who ran it for the past few years and after she left they needed someone to help students out.”
Durham said the job was right up her ally.
“… I like planning and organizing stuff.” Durham said.
Senior Hannah Kasper joined the prom committee for the first time this year to leave her mark on.
“I wanted to have a chance to do something in the school that could be memorable for me, but also for the entirety of the senior class and everyone else,” Kasper said. “I joined so that I could have an impact on what happens, and to invest myself in the school one last time before graduating.”
Senior Olivia (Olive) Cochran was interested in joining the committee due to the appeal of being able to use her party-planning skills.
“I joined the prom committee because I had seen the advertising and posters for it last year, so I had been interested in joining for a while, and the thought process behind setting up a school dance is interesting to me because I like organizing and setting things up,” Cochran said.
Preparing for the big night is no small task, as Durham explains by sharing the time requirements leading up to the dance.
“Officially, I will spend 60 hours getting ready for [prom]–on the actual day of prom I will spend from 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night setting up decorations and getting things ready until prom starts,” Durham said. “The committee will be there from 8:30 [a.m.] to 1:00 [p.m.] to help set up, and throughout the year there will be six or seven meetings to pin down details.”
The meetings are spread throughout the year, with more being held closer to the prom date. Cochran shares what happens at the meetings and why the committee is needed.
“We help out by having meetings where we discuss the themes and all the things we need to buy for the dance and we also have set dates for when we need to go load our cars and take the stuff to Bass Pro [White River Conference Center],” Cochran said. “We also spend the day before prom setting up the dance, and just helping [Ms.] Durham so she’s not spending all this time planning out the dance on her own.”
Kasper shares why students should consider joining prom committee next year.
“We have people from all groups that come together and inspire each other to create something cool for the entire school,” Kasper said. “I think everyone should join the prom committee … because it’s just a really fun time to be creative and to create something memorable.”