Dress: $200. Tux: $75. Tickets: $110. Limo: $300. An evening you’ll never forget: priceless.

As April 25 draws nearer, OHS upperclassmen are abuzz with pre-prom excitement. For most juniors, this will be their first time attending the dance, while for seniors, this is their last hoorah before graduation.

However, while the student body is full of enthusiasm, the Stugo junior class is hard at work putting the finishing touches on prom.

According to Taylor Specht, junior, Stugo began planning last school year and have put countless hours into preparation since then.

“There’s just so many aspects you have to get organized and approved,” Specht said. “It all just takes time.”

Some of the biggest decisions Stugo had to make while planning are where the dance is going to be located, and what the theme of the dance will be.

“As sophomores, we took a field trip to different venues around town to get different glimpses of what we wanted,” said Matt Hernandez, junior. “And the theme and the venue go hand in hand. Before we even had a theme in mind, we got our venue secured.”

This year, though, Stugo had a rough time reserving their preferred venue. According to Jen Galbreath, Stugo advisor, their first venue double-booked them and they had to search for a different location.

“We got a late start on the venue, which is the hardest thing,” Galbreath said.

Aside from venue troubles, the biggest issue Stugo has had to deal with this year is the rumors surrounding “anti-prom,” which was an idea proposed by students who wanted the freedom to dance without adult supervision.

“It’s kind of upsetting, with all the work that goes into it,” Specht said. “You can’t really plan a successful prom without hard work, and we’re working around it.”

According to Cierra Connaker, senior, “anti-prom” was supposed to be on April 18 at the Arrowhead Country Club, but the plans fell through because of a booking mistake.

“It started out as a joke, like ‘Oh, we’re going to have our own dance!’ but then everyone actually wanted to do it,” Connaker said.

Even though the plans for a second dance misfired, Stugo is doing everything they can to make prom an event everyone will want to attend.

Galbreath said that the biggest hurdle in planning has been trying to reaching everyone, not just the normal crowd that attends dances.

“Based on my survey results from August, about half of the students don’t go to dances because they think they’re disgusting, and the other half don’t think there’s a problem,” Galbreath said. “We’re hoping to reach kids that don’t normally come to our events, so that they actually know that they’re welcome.”

The last month before the dance is crucial to planning. According to Galbreath, Stugo has booked a new DJ this year to try and change the atmosphere, and have been working on making the downtown venue “jazzier.”

Although Stugo is working through issues as they arise, they are confident that this year’s prom will be one to remember.

“I like trying to plan what students want and bringing everyone together,” Specht said. “And for prom, since its only upperclassmen, there will be a little more leeway when it comes to the rules.”