Students entered an ethereal room full of bright lights and decorations as they arrived at the venue, enamored by the elaborate ornaments scattered along the ceiling and the walls. Thrilled by the brightness of the venue and the excitement in the crowd, Northwood upperclassmen danced the night away at the “Starlit Night” themed prom on the evening of May 20, held at the Coto Valley Country Club.

The venue held a myriad of attractions, including two different dance floors, one with a live band performance and the other featuring a DJ setup with flashing lights around the room. Students who were taking a break from dancing enjoyed other activities planned by Junior Class Council that added to the whimsical atmosphere of Coto de Caza, lining up for horse-drawn carriage rides, posing for GIFs and 360 videos at photo booths and playing pool in the game room.

“My favorite part of prom was definitely the live band,” class vice president junior Muhanad Hilal said. “Their energy and the songs they played just made a really nice atmosphere that everyone could enjoy and it was a good break from purely mosh songs.”

Apart from the activities, the refreshments were both creative and delicious, with a large chocolate fountain and huge strawberries matching the grandiose nature of the prom venue. Ice cream, donuts and other sweet treats were also offered. Additionally, a fire pit was set up to serve as a warm reprieve on the slightly sprinkling night while also being used to roast marshmallows for s’mores.

“I liked the s’mores a lot because it was really fun to roast them outside in the fire pit with my friends,” senior Shaina Grover said.

The theme and preparation behind prom paid off, as the dance had record-breaking sales exceeding those of all previous years, highlighting the hard work that Junior Class Council put into both planning and publicizing the event.

Junior Class Council members met weekly to finalize different parts of the event so that prom would go as smoothly as possible, drawing from a wide variety of voices to arrive at the most appealing prom theme as possible.

“For this year’s prom we had to brainstorm color schemes based on ideas our councils had pitched to us,” class president junior Cynthia Nakano said. “Each individual made a slideshow of multiple themes they thought of. We then voted based on the pitches of each idea and came to a consensus of a theme and color scheme for our contractor and flyers.”

Beyond the designated photo area, students took advantage of the glowing lights, fountains and greenery at Coto de Caza to take photos as well. The entire surrounding area was brimming with nature that enticed students to explore and admire the sights, from a lineup of greenery to a swingset hung off of a tree, making for a picturesque night.

Overall, students embraced the night with high energy, especially seniors, who moshed their hearts out at prom for the last time at Northwood. The excitement and great memories from prom are a fantastic way to end the school year off, and seniors are bound to look back and cherish the starlit memories from their high school years.

“I really liked playing foosball with my friends because it’s not a game most people usually know but my family usually plays foosball together,” senior Abby Chu said. “For the majority of prom I waited in the horse carriage line, and even though it was a really long wait, I was able to have some really deep convos with my friends so it wasn’t all entirely bad.”