Looking for a prom date

Christine Carrillo

Crystal Nay always imagined she would attend her high school prom.

She could imagine dressing up in a fancy gown, being escorted by a

handsome date and dancing the night away with her friends.

The one thing she never imagined -- that her school wouldn’t have

a prom.

Nay attends Orange Coast Middle College High School in Costa Mesa.

In the six years of the school’s existence, the juniors and senior

that make up the school’s student body have never had a prom.

“It’s just part of senior year and I want to be able to be 30 and

say I went to my senior prom, to be able to say I created my senior

prom,” said Nay, a senior who organized a student committee just for

this purpose. This year, the Middle College High students decided

they wanted a change.

They wanted to start organizing events that would establish school

traditions and transform their school into an institution they can be

proud of.

Over the years Middle College High has introduced its 85 students

to college life but has neglected to provide them with the staples of

high school life. Staples like prom and grad night, that is.

“One of our school goals, part of our action plan, is to try to

find ways that [students] can feel connected to the school,” said Bob

Nanney, who became principal of the school in August. “We want them

to feel a real identity for the program and part of that is creating

traditions ... I think that prom is one of them.”

Part of the problem the small school faces, however, lies in its

funding.

The prom committee has done its homework and researched the

financial expenses that go along with organizing a dance of that

magnitude. They have decided on a location, the Queen Mary, and now

need to come up with the $1,000 deposit required to reserve their

spot in May.

While monetary aid from the school’s Parent Teacher Student Assn.

remains a possibility, the students’ pockets may be the key resource.

In order for this inaugural event to come to fruition students will

be expected to pay $60 per prom bid, the first $1,000 of which will

go directly to the deposit, and must also raise enough money for

additional expenses, like decorations, from various fund-raising

activities.

“I think it’s something that the students have to want or it won’t

get done,” said Pam Winkler, membership chair for the PTSA. “We are

very supportive ... and I think it would give these students more of

a feeling that this is actually a school.”

From no prom to a nonexistent grad night event, students at Middle

College High have made up their minds to make their experiences there

all the more memorable.

“I really want a senior prom,” Nay said.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education reach her at (949) 574-4268

or christine.carrillo@latimes.com.