Photo Credit: Liza Kuhn
By Tori Mohn ‘26 and Logan Atencio ‘27
Excitement is building as students and teachers at Conestoga Valley High School prepare for prom, which will be held at the Eden Resort in Lancaster on May 2 from 5-10 p.m.
A lot of hard work and over a year of preparation is put into prom each year. Liza Kuhn, the sole event planner and the psychology teacher at the high school, explained the whole process of planning. “Usually when I sit down at prom I start thinking about what I want to do next year.”
Mrs. Kuhn has said how she usually has most of prom planned before the school year even begins.
Normally, she knows the theme of the dance two plus years in advance. She books the DJ and decorators by late fall of the current school year. She shared that she is doing a lot of research into finding decorations and planning to send a ‘save the date’ out soon.
Once the prom date is announced, most students start preparing for prom. Finding outfits, planning pictures, and getting a date can be a lot to handle.
Emily Miller (11) mentioned going out with her friends and renting a dressing room to try on dresses together weeks before prom. The day before prom they make their bouquets and have a sleepover. The day of, they have brunch or go out to eat, they get ready, make sure their hair and nails are done, and then go get photos.
Miller said, “I would 100% say that I think planning for dances itself is so stressful… you have so much time and so many tasks to do and something could go wrong.”
On the other hand, some students aren’t stressed at all. When asked if prom is stressful to plan for, Cordell Bair (12) responded with, “I would say so, but I try not to worry about it too much, it’s supposed to be a fun event so I don’t want to stress about it too much.”
Mrs. Kuhn mentioned that her biggest stressor about the whole night is time constraints. Sometimes, she only has a few hours to set up for the event instead of the whole day.
While some schools may have a whole prom committee, Mrs. Kuhn is the only person, along with the help of her husband, planning, decorating, and arranging everything for prom.
Not only does she have to set up for the dance with a limited amount of time, she also has to have time to get ready herself and be at the event by 5 to greet the students coming for the dance.
The juniors and seniors interviewed overwhelmingly said dancing or getting ready with friends was what they most enjoyed and looked forward to.
“I’m looking forward to hanging out with friends, picking out a dress, and dancing because it’s my last year of high school,” Sadie Avery (12) said.
Just showing up and enjoying the effort Mrs. Kuhn put into the dance can make a big difference in the impact it has on others.
Mrs. Kuhn said her favorite part of prom is, “when kids say thank you, because that’s pretty rare. Or the kids that stay the whole time and they have so much fun, because they’re not too cool for school.”