Capri Scarcelli, Editor in Chief; Kaiden Ciongoli, Media Manager; Isabella Saccomano and Ethan Bennett, Staff Writers

     Changes have been made with prom preparation as teachers Kim Stefkovich and Tami Thornton are organizing the dance this year, replacing previous prom coordinator Phillip Moses.

    Prom will again take place at Stratigos Banquet Center, and Grand March will follow the same schedule as previous years.

 Additions to Grand March will include decorations and two photo booths.

    Thornton said she was inspired to become a prom coordinator because of the different environment and the festivities that come with it.

    “I’ve always chaperoned prom and it’s always fun to see students all dressed up and outside of the routine of school and just having a good time with friends,” she said.

    As prom coordinators, Stefkovich and Thornton are in charge of all of the details; this includes location, food, activity schedule, DJ, lighting/sound technician, ordering of the crowns as well as casting and tallying the votes for prom king and queen.

    Thornton said they must also keep track of ticket sales, outside guest forms, creating dinner seating charts, organizing Grand March and making sure that everyone is safe throughout the evening.

    With all of this in mind, Stefkovich and Thornton said they must make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

   One big change this year is the purchasing and distributing of prom tickets. Instead of buying them during lunch, tickets are being sold online via Family ID.

   Since there is not a paper copy, Thornton said it will be easier to collect the money from ticket sales, as it all goes into one account.

   “With ticket sales online, it will be easier to organize seating and the check-in sheet for students arriving at both Grand March and Stratigos,” Thornton said.

    According to Stefkovich, this change will also make buying tickets more convenient for students and parents.

    “Typically, the only time allotted for purchasing tickets is during the lunch period at school. This small block of time makes the purchasing of tickets stressful since students only having one opportunity per day to buy them,” Stefkovich said. “Adding the card option will improve sales because it is easier than bringing in cash, especially if the student is paying for their date as well.”

    By expanding the sales to Family ID, students can purchase their tickets at any time of the day through credit or debit card.

     This also makes it easier to keep track of how many people have bought tickets, according to Thornton.

    Senior Gina Sarnelli said that she thinks Family ID might be “difficult to maneuver” in order to buy prom tickets.

    “I remember having trouble buying my parking pass at the beginning of the year… students at P-T are sometimes confused on how the website works,” Sarnelli said. “I also think that many students here would like a ‘physical’ prom ticket because they would like to keep it as a souvenir to remember their junior or senior prom.”

    Junior Natalie Cynkar agreed, saying that it might be easier to purchase tickets “the old way.”

    Although some students may agree with Sarnelli, Thornton and Stefkovich said that this will be beneficial to all.

     An issue that came with funding was the planned “Ugly Sweater” dance which was ultimately canceled. Due to this, additional money was not raised to benefit prom, according to Thornton. Stefkovich mentioned, however, that the photo booths for Grand March were added to make up for the loss.

   The coordinators said Stratigos increased their prices for food this year. Because of this, $49 of the $65 ticket price goes to dinner. The additional $16 is for the DJ, lighting, prom court, chaperones and more, according to the coordinators.

    The prices remain relatively the same as last year. Tickets were raised $2.50, which covers the cost of dinner at Stratigos. Although this was a small obstacle, Stefkovich and Thornton said they were able to get everything done as planned.

    Once at the dance, chaperones will check students in by name. All guests must present a photo ID to be admitted into the dance, according to the “PTHS Prom” Google Site on the school website.

    Another aspect of prom preparation includes the crowning of the king and queen.

    The lineup for prom court includes: Chris Abreu, Jeffrey Backus, David Carver, Hunter DeStefano, Cade Malkos and Jon Peduzzi for prom king, as Erin Brady, Cassandra Breze, Aimee DiBiase, Kiley Dugan, Lauren Kelly and Tea Santilli are up for prom queen, according to @PTHS_SADD on Twitter.

    P-T seniors were eligible to vote for who is on prom court; juniors will be included in the voting for prom king and queen.

      As always, tickets are non-refundable. They will be sold on Family ID until April 26.