On Saturday, April 27, New Ulm Public High School held its annual Prom for its upperclassmen students. Prom is a big thing at New Ulm High School and is seen as a significant day for most students.
There are many different pit stops throughout the day for the students. The first stop is German Park, which is in downtown New Ulm; here, all the students take photos with their friends and family and take pictures for both the junior and senior classes. Here, students sometimes get together if they are doing an activity outside of school; otherwise, sports for New Ulm High School usually go to where they play and take team photos all dressed up.
The Next stop is the Grand March, held in the New Ulm High School gym. This whole setup takes about three days after school hours. This is the most significant event throughout the night, making the students nervous as Prom creeps up. Grand March is when the students get escorted by their dates down a path for families and friends who got tickets. This gives the students a real paparazzi feel, with the cameras flashing and the cheering from family and friends. “This year was a big hit for New Ulm High School with 1300 people in the bleachers watching the students walk,” said Sarah Marlow, the head of the prom committee.
Usually, the big dance is held at New Ulm High School after the grand march, but this year, they had it downtown at the Franklin, giving students a fancier feel. At the Franklin, there’s a big dance floor with an area to take photos, a food bar in the corner, and a drink bar up on the loft where the tables are, so the students can snack as they bust a move on the dance floor. “I don’t think my feet have looked more purple in their life,” said Junior Kaelyn Eikanger as she busted it down to the iconic cha-cha slide.
The last pit stop for this fantastic prom night is the after-prom party, which is held at the New Ulm Middle School. Here, students can get in comfy clothes and hang out with all their friends doing numerous activities. These activities include card games, such as blackjack and poker. Then there are games in the gym like volleyball and pickleball. Then, there was also a Mechanical Bull outside that many students struggled to hang on to, along with being served some delicious pancakes around 2 am. But the pancakes took a turn this year, and I don’t mean being turned on the griddle. ” I remember seeing a pancake fly; I never thought I would be a part of a food fight,” said Junior Addison Haynes. A big catch to this after-prom party is that if the students stay the whole time till 3 am, they can win a massive prize. Students each put their name on a raffle ticket, and at the end of the night, for each award, a ticket will get picked for the student to take home. Some prizes that were handed out were blenders, gift cards to restaurants, gift cards for gas, etc.
Ultimately, this is a big day for New Ulm High School, and it takes hard work and long days leading up to the Prom. New Ulm High School has a prom committee with students volunteering to help set up and develop ideas for the Prom. The prom committee has seven students in it: Lilith Aubart, Brooks Miner, Dawson Mohr, Katelyn Schumacher, Josie Stade, Amanda Vogel, and Carly Wenninger; then is led by Sarah Marlow, who is an English teacher at New Ulm High School.
