“That was a long time ago”.

The words ring in Coach Cheryl Wuthrich’s ear as she reminisces on the live band that played all night at her prom, her home-made, full length dress made carefully by her mother, and the couple that her and her date went to dinner with before the event.

However, some Rider teachers, like Wuthrich, feel that modern-day proms are not so different from their predated counterparts.

“My whole junior prom was good,” Wuthrich said. “We had live bands, back in the 70’s, not DJ’s like you do now. They didn’t have a wide type of variety since it was a live band. They only had like their selections, whatever they were good at.”

Prom dress was, and still is, a very important aspect of preparing for the best prom experience possible.

“My prom was a formal one, like what it is now, so everyone dressed up,” Wuthrich said. “The girls wore long dresses and the guys rented tuxedos.”

For Chemistry teacher Autumn Weber, her dress was the best part of her prom experience.

“My favorite memory was all my friends and I walking into our prom in our beautiful dresses,” Weber said.

Because she lived in California, Weber was required to have a completely unique dress.

“In California, there’s a registry so you don’t wear the same dress as another girl–which is about the worst thing possible,” Weber said.

For Wuthrich, her dress situation was different from other girls.

“My dress was a homemade dress because we didn’t have a lot of money. I didn’t mind, my mom did a great job of making my dress,” Wuthrich said.

Wuthrich said she is a large supporter of money-saving techniques for prom.

“I like the idea we have now, like those prom-recycling stores, which is awesome for kids,” Wuthrich said. “I like the idea of everyone getting dressed-up, but I don’t like the emphasis on spending so much money on everything, because everything is so expensive. Everything was expensive then too.
We didn’t a spend fortune on anything, and I think there is too much emphasis on money.”

However, despite many similarities to modern day proms, both Wuthrich’s and Weber’s proms were different.

Many students buy a solo ticket to go and to party with their friends.

“If you didn’t have a date you didn’t go,” Wuthrich said.

Proms are held at venues that include school gyms and hotel resorts.

“Our prom was at a really cool location that had very pretty gardens and horse-drawn carriages,” Weber said.

Prom dances today are characterized by Harlem Shaking, Wopping, and Twerking.

“There’s a lot more group dancing at proms than back in the day. It was always couple-dancing at our proms,” Wuthrich said.

However, Rider proms have one major difference from Wuthrich’s and Weber’s proms: they are open to all grades.

“At my school you either had to be a junior or a senior, or be a date of a junior or senior,” Wuthrich said. “I think the open thing is nice as well, because numbers are going to be better and it means raising more money. However, I think there is something to be said in having something to look
forward to your junior and senior year instead of opening it up to the public”.

Weber said she finds Rider prom experiences interesting.

“For most places, prom is the major dance,” Weber said. “I don’t know if its a cultural thing, but it’s very strange to me that Rider’s prom isn’t the major senior dance. When I worked prom, It was sad how few people showed up. And it was held in a field house. I understand why it was held there, but compared to where my prom was held, it was a poor prom experience.

However, Biology teacher Brittany Bailey said she sees an improvement in Rider proms.

“They have gotten the prom numbers back up,” Bailey said. “When I went monitor, the kids seemed like they were having a lot of fun. And even I had fun.”

No matter how teachers or students feel about prom, people have shown that prom means a lot to them.

“You always hear about Prom, it’s always the one dance that everyone talks about when they get older,” Bailey said. “It’s your memories that you make. And that’s one that usually everyone remembers.”