Chaska High School prom will be a bit different this year – there is no grand march.
The senior class voted overwhelmingly to cancel the event, said Prom Committee Advisor Sara Gabrielson.
In the past, prom-goers would enter the CHS gymnasium, walking down a path and under arches, in front of popping camera flashes and adoring parents. Couples would have their portraits taken by a professional before heading off to the dance. This year, portraits will be taken at the site of the dance.
So far, the cancellation has only resulted in two parent complaints, Gabrielson said. About 30 students voted in favor of keeping the event.
There were a few reasons to cancel the event, Gabrielson said, notably because 800 students (or roughly 400 couples) now attend prom.
Students would leave before all the students had completed the march. “At the end of the line, there was no one there to see them, and it’s not fair. We’ve just gotten too big,” she said. With the long lines, there was shrinking attendance among students.
Another reason was the price. The grand march, cost “thousands of dollars,” to decorate the gym, bring in special lighting, and hire an announcer and a deejay. By canceling the march, the Prom Committee could drop the ticket price from $50 to $35.
Gabrielson hoped that the price drop would encourage kids, who might not have a lot of money, to attend prom. High prom costs, and income disparity among the students, continues to be an issue, she said.
“Hopefully, what we are doing this year is closing the gap … between the extremely privileged population in Chaska and those who aren’t there,” Gabrielson said.
To help accomplish this goal, this year the District 112 Foundation is sponsoring free tickets for those who can’t afford them, giving out 20, as of earlier this week.
“(As) part of our efforts this year, we have been looking at the poverty population in the district,” Gabrielson said. She noted the community forum on “poverty and economic diversity,” held at April 24 at the Chaska Community Center.
Dresses
The schools are also attempting to help girls who couldn’t afford dresses for prom. Students were also asked to contact CHS drug and alcohol counselor Dorothy Clark-Miles for assistance.
Clark-Miles then worked with Jeri Kuecks, formerly of Chaska, who owns the Vista Images tailoring and alterations shop in Waconia.
This year, Kuecks has helped 53 girls into donated and altered prom dresses. Of these 28 are Chaska High School students (six of whom she fitted on Monday night).
Dresses start out at about $89 or $99, “but go up to $400 easily,” she notes. The average ranges between $160 and $220, she estimated. “I don’t remember paying that much for a wedding dress,” she said. (Kuecks spent $199 for her wedding dress in 1978.)
Kuecks started the free service about four years ago. She runs her service with donated dresses, funds, and time. She hits the summer garage sales, thrift stores and Goodwill to find the dresses. “I’m always looking for very small sizes and larger sizes,” she said. She also added some shoes this year, and sometimes provides undergarments.
She rounds up the donated dresses, and then makes alterations for the girls at schools in Chaska, Waconia, Minnetonka and Hopkins.
“The girls that can’t afford it – they don’t want people to know they can’t afford it. My program is total anonymity,” she said. Kuecks doesn’t have two girls in her shop from the same school at the same time. “We’re careful so nobody knows,” she said.
Kuecks said she’s finding girls who may live in big homes, but whose parents have been unemployed for a year.
Kuecks works through school officials, who send the girls to her. She also offers her services to anyone who has a parent in the military. Kuecks’ son is currently serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq. “We want to keep the military families close to heart.”
The dresses, which the girls keep, may be the “only fancy dresses they ever get,” she said.
It’s worth it to Kuecks, “just seeing these gals as happy as they can be.”
She said there’s also a demand for boys, who lack the money to rent tuxedos. Dorothy Clark-Miles noted that a “sweet” mother gave her two gift cards, each for $150, to Eden Prairie Center that boys could use for tux rentals.
For Kuecks, finding the girls the right dress is a labor of love. “It takes two to three months of making no money,” Kuecks said.
Her shop hours are typically 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, often she’ll be up until 1 a.m. fitting a girl into a prom dress.
They may leave with a different dress than they originally had in mind, but they typically like it regardless.
“They look pretty darn good, I have to admit,” Kuecks said.
Chaska High School Prom
Time: 9 p.m. to midnight, April 26
Theme: Midnight Masquerade
Location: International Market Square