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Photos courtesy of Beth Dawson

Though students who perform with the Railmen Indoor Percussion group might be missing out on Bellevue West’s prom to compete in Dayton, Ohio, they didn’t miss out on the fun. To make up for being out of town during one of two school-sponsored dances during the school year, parents of Railmen Indoor Percussion students helped put together a private party.

When setting up the schedule, assistant band director Marques Eckhoff noticed that their competition would conflict with prom. Upon finding this, he decided to host a prom for students involved with Railmen Indoor Percussion.

Railmen Indoor Percussion students’ prom didn’t fall short of decorations. The theme was the same as the show they’re working on, “One Small Step.” On April 5, the clubhouse of Eckhoff’s apartment complex was glowing with lights and covered with streamers, glittery stars and crescent moons. They also had a backdrop to take group photos and a DJ playing their choice of music.

“It gave us time to not just practice, because we’ve been doing that a lot, especially lately. It was a good time to get away and hang out and not have to worry about playing all the time,” Eckhoff said.

Junior Christian Stough’s mother Elaine was one of the parents involved in putting together this prom. Stough and junior Nick Pavel’s mother Mary spent three hours decorating before the event.

“We probably had enough food to feed an army,” Elaine Stough said.

Students paid an admission of $10. The clubhouse cost $90 to rent. Food and decorations were donated by parents.

For the parents, hosting a prom for students was a sigh of relief. Stough said by having a smaller environment, they didn’t have to worry about promiscuous behavior that takes place at other proms.

Both her junior and senior year, senior Becca Yost was out of town for Railmen Indoor Percussion students during prom. She wishes she was able to attend Bellevue West’s prom, however is grateful they still had their own prom.

“It was a big bummer, because last year I had the same thing, I was gone for Dayton,” Yost said. “I’ll never really go to Bellevue West’s prom but I’m just glad they had some sort of prom.”

While only juniors and seniors are allowed to attend Bellevue West’s prom, all grades were welcome at Railmen Indoor Percussion students’ prom. Sophomore Jordan Williams wasn’t upset he couldn’t attend actual prom since he isn’t old enough. However, he hopes he can attend Bellevue West’s prom in the future.

“I think that one of the things that made it different was the fact that we were surrounded by people we knew, and usually you have to deal with a bunch of other people kind of in your way,” Williams said. “It wasn’t as crowded. It just made it more fun.”

Senior Joe Longhini also liked the fact that it was private, because they were able to choose their own music and decorations.

“It was very well put together,” Longhini said. “Since we had to miss regular prom to go to Dayton, we just had our own private little thing. We’re all good friends there so it wasn’t an awkward situation.”

Railmen Indoor Percussion students will be competing in the Winter Guard International World Championships April 12 and 13 against 26 groups in their class.

“It was a really good bonding experience for kids before they went off to their big competition in Ohio,” Stough said.

Hailey Stolze
Editor in Chief