Community News

SOME HIGH SCHOOLS MAKING CHANGES TO PROM

PRINCIPAL SAYS EVENT SHOULD 'INCLUDE AS OPPOSED TO EXCLUDE'

JILLIAN FOLLERT jfollert@durhamregion.com

Prom is back after two years and Durham District School Board (DDSB) high schools are making some changes for 2022 with a goal of making the event more affordable, inclusive and welcoming.

"We need a chance to be social but we want to include as opposed to exclude," says James Klodnicki, principal at Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Whitby, where this year's event has been dubbed the Grade 12 Social.

"We rebranded it to Grade 12 Social because of the fact that there were a lot of ... exclusionary points that were tied to the word 'prom' in the past," he says, noting the LGBTQIA community has been "very much not included," while students from low-income families may also have felt left out.

Some DDSB high schools are still calling the event prom, while others are going with "graduation celebration," or "grad formal."

Event details vary from school to school, but DDSB high school officials have set some general guidelines for the 2022 event including: tickets that are $100 or less; a shorter event duration; ensuring there are activities offered as an alternative to dancing; and an education component in advance such as a presentation on impaired driving from MADD Durham.

High schools are also being encouraged to make prom awards inclusive and avoid categories such as prom king and queen.

The changes are being greeted as "very needed" by some students and criticized as "ridiculous" by others.

One DDSB student who took to social media to praise the changes says "prom historically has heteronormative undertones" and can feel unwelcoming to LGBTQIA+ students.

Another said students "faced enough stress the last two years" and "deserve a regular, traditional prom."

Donald A Wilson's three-hour social will run from 6 to 9 p.m. with a $90 price tag that includes a three-course dinner, professional photo booth, candy bar and the option of dancing along with games and other activities.

As someone who has supervised proms for the last 20 years, Klodnicki says the decision to make the 2022 events shorter — wrapping up around 9 p.m. in most cases as opposed to 10 or 11 p.m. — is because students often clear out soon after dinner to head to after-parties.

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281565179368385

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