Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994 TAG: 9405050005
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
According to Arlene Cundiff, principal specialist for the Youth Risk Prevention Project of the Department of Education, Virginia was the first state to implement the After Prom Celebration concept on a statewide basis to fight drug and alcohol abuse on prom nights.
The idea was nurtured first in Maine and Oregon towns, where it was implemented on a community-wide basis, Cundiff said. In Virginia, where the concept took hold in 1987, the Department of Motor Vehicles received federal grant money for Operation Prom/Graduation, and the Virginia Department of Education provided leadership and coordination.
The cooperative effort also has resulted in a 178-page booklet titled ``Celebrate Life! A Guide for Planning All Night Alcohol/Drug Free Celebrations for Teens.''
``Prom night and graduation are the two highest-risk social seasons any high school student faces,'' Cundiff said. ``They emulate adult behavior by drinking,'' sometimes with deadly consequences if they get behind the wheel of a car. ``We're trying to provide new traditions.''
``The message teen-agers hear from our society is that alcohol is really needed for special occasions, and this is their special occasion,'' said Mary Nasca, co-chairman of Cave Spring High School's After Prom Celebration. ``If you don't want them to do that, you have to give them an alternative.''
The free booklet is the basis of periodic workshops offered across the state for parents and educators who want to create a safe alternative for teens on prom and graduation nights.
Nasca attended one such workshop and applied what she learned to organizing and fund-raising efforts for Cave Spring's after prom party.
``You need to have games, activities and events that kids cannot do anywhere else the rest of the year. They won't stay and watch videos that they can see any day of the week,'' Nasca said.
Cave Spring, with an after prom budget that exceeds $10,000, has gone all out this year to rent sports equipment and organize other activities that will interest the teens in coming and staying for the entire party. About 500 students are expected to show up at the Carter Athletic Center immediately after the May 21 prom.
One piece of sports equipment, the Velcro Wall Jump, costs $750 to rent for the night, because the operator has to carry a million dollars in insurance, Nasca said. Other party attractions include a caricaturist, money machine, DJ, Karaoke, juggler, magician and carnival games.
Typically, students going to an after prom party must arrive between midnight and 1:30 a.m. No one is admitted after a designated time. To discourage students from going to their cars and drinking, they cannot come and leave the party premises.
``They can leave when they want, but they cannot come back in,'' Nasca said. Most schools also require students to sign in and sign out.
The idea is to get the students to the event soon after the prom and keep them entertained in a fun, safe, drug- and alcohol-free environment until the party's over, usually at 4 a.m. or dawn. As an incentive to stay the entire time, the best and biggest prizes are given away at the end.
Raising money for an after prom party is no small undertaking. And budgets vary widely, depending largely on school size and expected attendance.
``We've had an overwhelmingly positive response from the business community. Over 150 stores donated prizes, and almost 100 companies and professionals supported [Cave Spring] through giving money, products or food,'' Nasca said.
Cave Spring also was one of three Roanoke-area schools that benefited from a Kroger test program, Kroger Cares, this year. The schools purchased Kroger gift certificates, sold them and got back 5 percent from Kroger.
``We receive numerous requests from clubs to help with their fund raising. We decided to test this program on high school after prom parties before offering it to other organizations,'' said Daria Bright, Kroger management trainee.
Kroger Cares is modeled after similar programs successfully implemented in other Kroger marketing areas. ``Everyone buys groceries, and most people spend $100 or $200 at a time, so that 5 percent can add up quickly,'' Bright said.
Northside High raised about $2,000 through Kroger Cares toward its after-prom budget of about $5,500. Glenvar High raised about $3,000 through the test program, half of its nearly $6,000 budget. Cave Spring, which started earlier, raised about $7,000 in the program, Bright said.
Statewide, the Operation Prom/Graduation concept has grown from just one after prom party in 1987 to more than 300, Cundiff said. That's out of an estimated 300 public schools and 100 private schools in the state.
``Virginia has been a national leader with this concept,'' Cundiff said. ``We've helped start similar projects in Nevada, South Carolina, Louisiana and California.''
In the Roanoke Valley, Patrick Henry High School, Salem High School and all four Roanoke County high schools were the first six participants when the Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Coalition began its After Prom Grand Finale and car giveaway in 1989.
Every year since, the coalition has invited regional high schools to participate in the finale. This year, 26 schools are participating. Students who stay drug- and alcohol-free and who stay to the end of their sanctioned After Prom Celebrations are eligible for a special drawing, in which four students from each school are selected to go to the finale.
This year's finale will be June 12, starting at noon, at Valley View Mall. First Team Auto Mall has donated a fully loaded, red Hyundai Scoupe LS to be given away. Each qualified student gets a key to try in the car door. The one who unlocks it wins.
The student who tries his key just prior to the winning key gets a ``consolation'' prize, a Raleigh mountain bike with accessories, donated by Roanoke Wreck Repair. Other prizes, underwritten by Advance Auto Stores, will be awarded to a student from each school, based on the outcome of the After Prom Wacky Olympic Games.
Roanoke Valley schools, this year also participated in an essay/scholarship contest. The winning essay about drinking and driving will be read at the grand finale. The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship in memory of Geoffrey Pelton, who was killed in a drunken driving accident May 16, 1993. Although his accident was not related to a prom activity, Pelton was the son of George Pelton, president of First Team Auto Mall, who has donated a vehicle for the event since 1992.
Most schools participate in the finale, however, some have chosen to do their own thing for various reasons.
Roanoke Catholic Schools, for example, has participated in the past but will not this year, mainly because of its smaller size, an organizer said. Instead, the anticipated 50 or so students are invited to attend a swim party at the YWCA in Salem after their May 21 prom. After the swim party, breakfast will be served at a parent's residence.
Roanoke Valley Christian Schools elect not to have a prom, based on school standards that do not promote dancing. Instead, the school has an elegant Junior-Senior Banquet, a sit-down formal dinner that honors and celebrates the accomplishments of seniors at graduation. The junior class members who put on the banquet for the senior class begin planning and raising funds for the event when they are in the ninth grade, said Terrie Futrell, junior class sponsor. This year's banquet is May 20 from 7 until 10 p.m. at the Radisson Patrick Henry Hotel.
Many schools choose a theme each year and decorate accordingly. Northside High School's theme is Sea Cruise, Boarding the USS Viking. Separate areas of Crossroads Mall will be decorated in Mexican and Jamaican motif. The effort is put together by parents, who make all of the decorations, said organizer Bonnie Murdock. About 550 students are expected to turn out after the May 7 prom.
Salem High School lets a student committee choose the theme, decorations, food and entertainment. Students wanted a disc jockey this year instead of a live band. Other attractions include a roving photographer, casino games, Velcro Wall Jump, caricaturist, dunking machine, fortune teller and a ``womanless beauty contest.'' Parents are preparing much of the food.
``The party has grown by leaps and bounds,'' organizer Becky Pollard said. ``We had [fewer] than 100 students when we started. Now, it's the place to be. We've even extended the party a half-hour longer because the kids have so much fun.'' About 600 are expected to show up at the Moose Lodge on U.S. 311 after the May 7 prom.
James River High School will do an outdoor Caribbean Festival at James River Limestone Park on U.S. 11 after its May 14 prom. Lord Botetourt High School has a Wild, Wild West theme for its party Saturday in the school gym, sharing decorations used previously by James River.
Craig County High School has planned a bowling party at Lee-Hi Bowling Lanes after its prom Saturday, and North Cross School has an all-you-can-eat pizza party, sponsored by the National Honor Society, at Chuck E Cheese's after its Saturday prom.
William Byrd's party will be at school following its May 28 prom. Organizers raised funds through solicitations and a used prom dress sale and by selling meals to Olympics of the Mind judges and competitors, said co-chairman Peggy Spigel.
Glenvar High School will have a live band, games and breakfast in the school gyms and cafeteria after its May 7 prom.
Patrick Henry High School's party will be in the Roanoke City Market Building after the May 21 prom and also will feature a live band, casino games, magician, caricaturist, door prizes and more.
William Fleming's party at Crossroads Mall, after its May 14 prom, will have a DJ, video arcade, casino games, carnival games, dancing and more. Food and prizes have been donated by Roanoke-area businesses. Last year, about 500 students attended.
``I feel we're very successful,'' said organizer Punky Scyphers. ``Our kids have just as much fun on $2,500 as other schools have on bigger budgets.''
Schools and communities are encouraged to take the Operation Prom/Graduation concept, personalize it and adapt it to their needs, said Cundiff.
``Evaluation of the project is difficult,'' she said, because every school holds prom and graduation on a different night.
However, she said, ``No alcohol- or drug-related crash or fatality has occurred in any community sponsoring these activities on a [given] prom or graduation night since 1987.''
by CNB