Junior/Senior Prom 2000 —

 Students Step Out Into A ‘Wonderful Tonight’

By Leah Blewett

SEYMOUR — This past Friday, nearly 650 Newtown High School students converged on the Villa Bianca for their annual junior-senior prom.  Pulling up in vehicles that varied from limousines to parents’ cars to one 1947 Bentley, students ignored the dropping temperatures and drizzly skies and stepped into the Villa for five hours of bonding, eating, and dancing with friends.

Students were first treated to a buffet-style dinner, which included Chicken Francaise, mashed potatoes, salad, and ziti, among other things.  Following dinner, students spent the rest of the night dancing and sitting at tables talking to their friends.

“This year’s prom was memorable because I had so much fun with my friends,” said NHS junior Rabiya Ansari, who broke prom traditions with her traditional Pakistani costume in vibrant green.  Other outfits also changed prom rules, including two students who wore 1920s style flapper dresses, and a couple who wore medieval-style costumes.

“Kate Yackel looked so beautiful,” said senior Katie DiPerrio, describing the salmon-colored ballgown and matching necklace worn by a fellow senior. Traditional ballgowns were also in abundance, from flowing, column-style dresses to full, poufy, “princess-y” skirts in every pastel hue.

For the gentlemen, traditional tuxedos were by far the most common, though a few chose to dress up the look with top hats, tails, or two-toned shoes.

“All the guys looked really good in their tuxes,” said junior Anna Bingaman. “It was cool to see everyone get that dressed up.”

Prom King and Queen, TJ Wolferseder and Sarah O’Sullivan, and their court, Kyle Jones, Amichai Kilchevsky, Melissa Fornabia, Adam Ponsky, Katrine Rundlof, and Ryan Braun, led the crowd in the prom theme dance, “Wonderful Tonight,” by Eric Clapton. After a few more songs, the crowd dispersed to various after-prom parties, including the one hosted by NHS at Newtown Health and Fitness Club.

At the health club’s After-Prom, students were fed and given the opportunity to dance, sleep, talk with friends, or play sports in the club’s facilities.

“I thought it was really great that everyone could have such a good time at a school-sponsored event—and it was a safe event as well,” said Katie DiPerrio.

NHS students may not have all done the prom in the same way, but they all had a good time last Friday night.

(Leah Blewett is a junior journalism student at Newtown High School, where she writes for the school’s newspaper, The Hawkeye)