Recently, Salida High School had its last dance of the year: prom. This year, Lev Wolkenbreit, a junior at SHS, made an effort to create a student produced playlist for prom. The overall goal in creating a student produced prom playlist was to give the students more representation in their prom, and to provide them with a more enjoyable experience. The attempt at creating this playlist also provides the opportunity to include the majority of the students in preparation for prom.
The playlist came together “for the most part,” as Wolkenbreit stated, but in the end it wasn’t able to be used. There were not many student responses for the playlist itself. “There was not a lot of time for the students to answer the form and suggest songs,” noted Wolkenbreit. With only a limited number of responses to the form, the input did not fully meet the expectations.
Wolkenbriet claimed that the students were “happy” with how the playlist turned out. However, some students were really looking forward to hearing their personally requested songs at prom.
Wolkenbriet noted that the experience of organizing part of a major school event revealed that planning a school dance involves far more work than expected. The process highlighted the level of coordination and responsibility required behind the scenes.
If the project were to be done again,Wolkeinbriet claimed that the survey should have been distributed earlier in the planning process to make it more successful than the previous attempt. Also, reviewing the responses alongside fellow members of the prom committee would have helped guide decisions. This approach could have produced a playlist that better reflected the preferences of the entire student body.
The effort to create a student-driven prom playlist offered valuable insight into the challenges of balancing diverse tastes and expectations. While the process faced obstacles, it sparked greater student involvement and conversation around how school events are planned. Ultimately, the experience may shape a more collaborative approach to future proms.
