Seniors End Year With Dances

SAN RAMON, CA - After this year’s graduating seniors had junior proms cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they finally got to enjoy a dance as a class.

Organizers usually have a full year to plan the event but were under a time crunch this year, thanks to frequently changing COVID-19 and an unusual school year marked by remote learning. They only had from the beginning of this school year to plan, said California High School senior class president Amanda Le.

“I’m incredibly proud,” Le said. “It’s been a really rough year.”

Many members of the Class of 2021 were excited for this opportunity, especially after missing out on having a full senior year and junior prom last year.

“[Schools like] Monte Vista got prom but the rest of us didn’t,” Cal High senior Aarushi Choudhary said. “[Now] I’m excited to see everyone.”

Cal High’s senior ball was held from 7 to 10 p.m. May 14 with a “Starry Night” theme.The dance was a free event for Cal High seniors only.

Cal High’s senior officers were able to pull everything together for the event, along with the help of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s event coordinator, administrative approval and their leadership advisor. According to Le, the dance had lots of fun activities, food and sweet treats such as crepes, and a DJ.

On the other side of town, Dougherty Valley High School also had its senior ball May 14 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. with a “mask-querade” theme.

After their junior prom was cancelled, planning for this year’s senior ball started in Feb., which felt overwhelming according to Dougherty Valley High’s senior class president Sarah Yao.

“We didn’t know what we were looking at,” Yao said in terms of what COVID guidelines would be like.

In the end, the senior officers, with the help of the company SF Prom, ended up setting the venue as Dougherty Valley High’s football field withgames, a mac-and-cheese bar, a photobooth and dancing, Yao said.

Many Dougherty Valley High seniors greatly enjoyed this end-of-year experience, such as prom royalty Dipika Chopra.

“I loved [ball],” Chopra said. “It was so much fun seeing my classmates again.”

At both schools, following safety precautions was a top concern. According to Le and Yao, guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were mandated, mask-wearing was enforced and students were encouraged to spread out.

At Cal High, the dance was outdoors, tables were spread out, and dancing was set to a minimum, Le said.

“Safety is the number one priority,” Le said.

Meanwhile at Dougherty Valley, similar safety protocols were enforced. Their dance was also outside and limiting students’ ability to congregate was crucial, according to Yao.

Ultimately, the goal of both of these schools was to give their seniors as fun and as safe of an experience as possible to finish off high school.

“I loved seeing how everything came together in play,” Yao said.

Although the juniors didn’t get a dance this year, they will have one as seniors just like the Class of 2021 did.