Geneva High School’s post prom party needs volunteers

GENEVA – Geneva High School is getting all prepped for prom May 11, but that’s not what’s keeping Holly Kennedy in crazy busy mode.

It’s what happens after the big dance party that is consuming her time. Kennedy is chair for the post prom party that takes place at the high from 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. at the high school for hundreds of teenagers.

Post prom festivities start when students return to the school from prom at the Museum of Science and Industry. School buses will be bringing the students back to the high school.

But, the post prom event is not limited to only students who attend prom, as the event is open to any student for a ticket price of $10.

Kennedy needs help making this party a success and right now she says they are more than 100 volunteers short of what is needed.

“We have 264 volunteer spots for 2024,” Kennedy said. “Currently, 127 volunteers have signed up.”

As chair, Kennedy oversees 13 teams for the activities: Casino, clothing, community art project, decorations, finance, food, games, inflatables, prizes, social media, T-shirts and a volunteer to oversee the volunteers. Anyone interested can email Kennedy at kennedyhb@gmail.com or at www.signupgenius.com.

“I’m hoping more will sign up, even though it’s Mother’s Day weekend,” Kennedy said. “Who wants to stay up all night and be an exhausted host for Mother’s Day for themselves the next day?”

This year’s theme is Summer Camp, where the school’s dance studio will be turned into a black light room to simulate a dark forest, Kennedy said. “We purchased black lights and black light glow tape and sticks to decorate the room,” she said.

Along with a simulated campfire, she said they need volunteers to tell ghost stories. “We’re hoping someone will take an interest in that,” she said.

Kenndedy said her husband used artificial intelligence to see if he could generate a quick ghost story as a sample. “It was a 10-page story,” Kennedy said. “It was, ‘Oh no. We can do better than this.’ ”

Participants will have T-shirts — some blue, some white — so they can be on different teams for various games and competitions. Some of the hundreds of donated prizes available are valued from $25 to $150, and those who win tickets in the casino game are eligible for prizes valued from $50 to $150.

As the event is not yet fully funded, donations can still be made through PushCoin. The event also has an Amazon Wish List that will be open until May 1.

If someone has an item to donate that is not on the list, you can email Terri Frieders at littlebuda4@aol.com.

Kennedy said the event is also seeking donations for friend experiences for the kids such as sporting event, concert or theater tickets or amusement park tickets.

The job is bigger than it has been in past years because of COVID, she said.

“After 2020 it was not just not having post prom, but the information from year to year was lost,” Kennedy said. The next year’s chair would shadow the current chair to see how things are done.

But the kids of those 2019 parents graduated and there was no one to show the next parent leaders how it’s done, Kennedy said. “The first prom after 2019 was 2022. It was four seniors’ moms and me with a freshman son,” she said. “It was reinventing the wheel.”

The turnout in 2022 was 810 students, as kids were happy to do something normal again after COVID. Last year had about 675.

Kennedy’s son is now a senior, her daughter a sophomore, so she has committed to volunteering until her daughter graduates.

“This will be my third event. I have two after this. I am wanting to learn this well and to have it organized. I would like to have co-chairs so it’s not the Holly Kennedy Show,” Kennedy said. “I would do it for my daughter’s senior year, document it well, and leave a book of standard operating procedures.”