Princess that may not have won in a ‘popularity contest’ in a traditional school,” she added. “I always imagine them being picked up after the prom and telling their parents what happened and showing off their crown or tiara.” The night’s royalty were revealed as: Princess - Brittany Bayless Prince -Brandon Hoelscher King - Miguel Martinez Queen - Ashley Cooper The princes and princesses were juniors, while seniors were crowned king and queen. Each student crowned was chosen at random. Potential winners lined up and were handed flowers wrapped in green paper. If they unwrapped the paper and their flower was revealed to be white, they earned their spot in the night’s royalty. Gratitude was also directed toward the student committee, who picked through details and pulled things together. Rice described them as “freakishly fantastic!” “Not all of the students were able to come help set up, of course, but the students that came had a lot of fun and made a huge difference,” she said. “Everyone jumped in and worked hard to pull it all together within the short amount of time.” One of those student organizers, 18-year-old Rae Ann Huffman, said she was excited to attend her first school dance. “I was really happy to meet people and hang out,” she said. The 11th grader said she was nervous when she first arrived because she didn’t know many people, but ended up having a ball. Of course, students like Huffman didn’t act alone in the planning process. “Prom is put together by more than just one person,” Rice said. “I work with the other prom coordinators, Brittny Pierson, Dana Comparetto, and Emma Baucher to make the decisions, raise money, hire all of the vendors, and secure volunteers.” She also highlighted ECOT’s online community manager. “There is also one face that people may know, but not realize has made quite a contribution this year. Meredith Ackerman not only supported us through the regular ECOT social media outlets, but also pulled together the prom website for us,” she said. “For the first year, we had an official site where announcements could be made, information posted, and links to resources available. The students enjoyed posting questions and adding their feedback to the newsfeed.” Speaking of next year… “I’m currently working with the prom committee currently to solicit their feedback on what they liked and what they want to change going into next year, and this will include proposing possible themes for the 2014 prom,” Rice said.
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