Senior lead out @ prom?

I chaperoned prom at the high school where my wife teaches tonight. They did something called senior lead out. Basically, it was like graduation in ball gowns and tuxedos. OK, fine, but then the families showed up to watch. The fire marshall had to run people out.

I had never heard of lead out much less of parents coming to prom. It was nuts.

So I had to keep parents off the dance floor AND watch the kids to make sure they didn't become parents at prom.

Any else ever heard of this foolishness?

 

Let us backtrack... you were chaperoning?

 

The schools around here usually extend invitations to the parents to attend the dance.

This might surprise some people, but I thought/think prom was/is a huge waste of money, spent by immature people who needed to put on a show. So I don't know if today's parents attend or not.

Post-prom, however, is an exceptional activity.

 

Your wife teaches? You have popped up on Poin's radar.

 

Yes, I was there as a chaperon.

And yes, Dools, Mrs. ByDesign77 teaches ... I fear her friend and fellow teacher may be headed for poin fame with a particular student, so we shall see. My wife better not be anywhere near there!

I agree prom is a waste of money, but really, inviting parents to the dance? Seems a bit odd.

 

I think the idea is the parents come for the pointless coronation.

 

I've never heard of senior lead-out but in this town prom is a big deal. They have some of the teachers working as valets and they've been holding it at a downtown hall the past few years. They block off the street, the parents line either side and the attendees are introduced to the crowd.

What's even more ridiculous is that there are students every year who try to out-do each other in terms of what kind of vehicle they arrive in. We get kids coming in fire trucks (thanks, Daddy fire chief!), semis, in John Deeres. One guy last year went the minimalist route, bringing his girl in a shopping cart.



(Yep, I took it ... since I was interim managing editor at the time, it fell on me to take photos. Because if there wasn't a story of prom -- with a pic -- on the front page the following Tuesday, there would have been hell to pay.)

 

Sounds like what we called the 'grand march.' Mom and Dad showed up to take pictures, each of the couples was introduced and the usual debauchery resumed.

 

It's fire marshal. Not marshall. I hate that.

 

And that's what she was in when her date left her drunk on the front lawn.

 

My kid was booted from his junior high prom because he brought a girlfriend from another school. They claimed he couldn't do that yet the woman at the school who sold him the ticket told him it would be OK if it was within the city's schools. Wrong! And yet the alleged funding of this helps finance the high school the junior highs feed into. We raised hell, got the rules changed but in the meantime, my wife was stalked by one of the self-important parents who ran the thing.

Me? I spent my prom weekend playing a men's Class B slowpitch tournament. Didn't miss it at all.

 

Interesting. I actually had more fun skipping both years, too. The first year, we were much like the Beastie Boys fan crowd -- cruising by the school and making fun of the pinheads as they came out. The second year, I had an event in another city, and we had to pass on making fun of the tux and dress crowd.