DOWNEY -- One night of dancing under the stars, walking through an intricately decorated garden, and seeing all the seniors together wearing formal attire, is reserved for May 15 from 8 p.m. to midnight as Downey High holds its one and only 2010 prom.With this year's event taking place at the Santa Anita Race Track located in Arcadia, the Downey prom will be both an inside and outside affair, already differentiating from most other proms. In an effort to make this night an even more once-in-a-lifetime event, Associated Student Body considered various themes, settling on one they deemed as less traditional and that would go excellently with the choice of location. "The theme is mystic gardens," said ASB Dance Coordinator and senior Elena Ortiz. "It's more of an atmosphere than an actual cheesy high school theme. We want to make it a night where it seems like anything is possible. It's going to be something different, something that the students haven't seen before. We wanted everyone to be able to go and have fun. That's why we made it a very broad theme. You can make the night anything you want." In order to implement this theme successfully, ASB plans to make use of the garden where the dance floor will be located by placing smoke machines, adding unique centerpieces on the tables, and playing with the falling of light on the trees in the garden so as to help contribute to a magical aura circling the dance floor. For a night like this where much money would have to be put into it and saved, ASB has been using different methods so as to raise money for the senior class of 2010. "Advertising," said ASB Dance Intern Alejandra Martinez. "We do a lot of advertising-as much as we possibly can. We tried to get to the newspapers but we do posters and a lot of it is by word of mouth but we tried to get it out as much as possible. We now can have ticket sales so we just add that to the money. The better we advertise and the more we try, the more successful we are." Though ASB is putting in the extra effort to ensure that this is a night to be remembered by the graduating seniors of 2010, dance regulations will still continue to be enforced. "The event group is going to bring in their own security" said Downey Activities Director Gordon Weisenburger. "Boys will be patted down and the girls will have their purses opened and looked at. Kids who are bringing things that are not on the accepted list like weapons and things like that will be taken away."

********** Published: May 7, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 3