Planning a prom

  • Level: High school
    Age group:
    Students ages 15 to 17
  • When:
    All year

Areas of learning:

  • Career planning and entrepreneurship
  • Citizenship and community life
  • Environment and consumption

Main objectives

  • Plan and carry out a major project
  • Track earnings and expenses
  • Meet deadlines
  • Work cooperatively

Preparation

With your help, students set up prom committees, appoint the members and choose the tasks to be done.

Task 1: Setting up committees

Task 1 objectives

At the end of this task, students will be able to set up various prom organizing committees in a democratic manner.

Instructions

  • When
    Late September
  1. Set up the prom committees and subcommittees.
  2. Call on everyone to recruit students who will become committee members.
  3. Suggest that the committee members survey future graduates on the prom theme.

Teacher's notes

  • Committee suggestions: 1 organizing committee and 2 subcommittees (fundraising committee and yearbook committee).
  • Help students democratically choose the members of each committee. Some schools opt to recognize the time devoted to committees as volunteer work. You could use this approach to motivate students.
  • Talk with students about how to disseminate prom information to all students in the school. Use traditional media (e.g., school newspaper, student radio station) or the web (e.g., public blog, Facebook page, document sharing with Google Docs, Survey Monkey questionnaire, etc.).
  • Make a group decision and ask students for help in implementing the means of communication.

Task 2: Choosing the tasks to be completed

Task 2 objectives

At the end of this task, students will be able to choose the tasks of the organizing committee and the subcommittees.

Instructions

  • When
    Late October
  1. With the students, set organizing committee and subcommittee mandates.
  2. Establish the tasks to be completed and the schedule for joint meetings.
  3. Suggest that the committees work as a team, cooperatively.
  4. Help students on each committee choose:
    • the tasks to be completed
    • the priorities
    • the timeframe
    • the meeting schedule

Teacher's notes

Talk with students about the importance of consulting each other prior to making a decision and of collaborating with other committees.

Task 3: Estimating the costs

Task 3 objectives

At the end of this task, fundraising committee members will be able to estimate the prom ticket price.

Instructions

  • When
    Late October
  1. With students, estimate the total potential cost of the prom activities.
  2. Ask the school administration for a donation or sponsorship.
  3. Estimate the prom ticket price. To do this, subtract the school administration donation from the total estimated cost, then divide the remaining amount by the potential number of students attending the prom.
  4. Open an account with a financial institution to deposit the money raised over the year.

Teacher's notes

  • Use data on the cost of the last 3 proms, if available.
  • Compare the costs with the committees' choices for the last 3 proms (e.g., with or without hotel accommodations, 3 or 4 star hotels, etc.).

  • Help students on the organizing committee raise awareness among other graduates of the magnitude of prom organization expenses:

    • Suggest that they save for the prom as early as possible.
    • Encourage them to participate in fundraising activities.