Junior Prom 2016 - Princess Five is a Princess - Royalty

A few years back, Princess Three helped out with prom and was voted into prom royalty. I guess back in the day, whoever was prom chair on the prom committee was voted "Prom Queen." 
 
Here is a link to Princess Three's prom post where she was first attendant. 

I know LOTS of girls and parents who got themselves into LOTS of work by being chair of prom thinking it would get their daughters into the Prom Queen position. Somewhere in the middle years of my girls, they got a different student government advisor and things quickly went downhill on that front. 

Those doing all the work were on the ballot but the popular girls who came once to a committee meeting also got on the ballot and somehow, one of those girls got put in charge of the ballot itself. 

Three years ago when Princess Three was a Jr. she was on the committee and did her fair share or more. That afternoon, one of the girls showed her the ballot and had scratched one of her friends names off saying she hadn't come to any meetings. It was true, the girl had only gone to one meeting and hadn't helped much so Princess Three didn't say anything but that night when they handed out the ballots, Princess Three's name wasn't on the ballot. She was really hurt that the girl took her name off the ballot so that her "friends" would be the royalty knowing that if Princess Three was on the ballot, she would probably end up in the royalty. 
 
I was not happy as you can imagine. Seeing her do so much work only to have a girl bully her that way. We had a new principle at the time and it was his first year. I shared the situation with him but being in a small town, there are always politics.

They didn't do anything to the girl that "altered" the ballot but they instituted a different system the next year and put a teacher in charge of overseeing the situation. They started keeping track of meeting attendance, committee involvement and there were points for each time they helped with decorating and planning.  

This is the only way they can get people to help decorate and get involved lots of times. There are always the same kids and families that help with events even as early as elementary school, it is always the same parents involved with class parties, PTA and being the parent on the field trips and activities. 

The same thing applies in high school except when it comes to Prom, all the sudden there are LOTS of girls interested in being on the committee. I think it is a great way to get people to help. It is sad to me that many parents only help with that one event rather than through their child's school career as that shows kids an importance on beauty or popularity rather than the scholastic education but "it is what it is" in our society. 

Princess Five has been involved with all aspects of school spirit and academics since she was young and helping with this is just another part of who she is. She was SO happy that the prom queen ended up being the girl who was the chair and did TONS of work for prom. Even though Princess Five didn't like all the themes or choices, she appreciated the time and work of those who planned and helped put prom together. 

I was so proud of her that after prom was over and the kids were dancing and the parents had left, she sought out the Student Body advisor and thanked her for all her hard work in supporting and organizing Prom. I am guessing there weren't many kids that did that. It just is who Princess Five is. 

There were still many people on the committee for prom and many on the ballot for prom queen so Princess wasn't expecting her name to be called as there were "popular" girls she thought may take the spots. I always laugh when my girls say they aren't "popular." They always have been that way. They think because there are girls whose parent have money or they drive a nicer car or the "cute" or "popular" boys like, that they aren't popular. 

I know there is a stigma with the term "popular" but they don't realize that because they are "nice" and "beautiful" they are popular with everyone, not just the "popular" kids. Popular and "popular" are two very different things. One girl that won a spot on royalty has a mother that is a favorite teacher at the school which makes her "popular." Another girl's parents are probably the richest (if not, close to the richest)family in town which makes her "popular" with kids.

The queen did all the work which made her "popular" with everyone. I am SO grateful that Princess Five was just up there because of who she is to people. She is kind to everyone and I LOVED that she sought me out and asked me to help her find a certain girl and take a picture of her with this girl who is one of the least "popular" and awkward kids in her grade so the girl would have a fun picture with a "popular" girl. She is constantly thinking of others which in my book, makes her POPULAR!

Princess ended up being second attendant and the boy that was voted second attendant was her homecoming date. I thought that was cute so we snapped a few pictures as they are good friends and have both been involved in student government over the years. Here is a link to their date which was also Princess Five's first date ever!

Her date didn't seem to mind being with "royalty" as you can see by his big grin. She got a few fun pictures with her friends and didn't want me to post them because she is "saving" them for her friends birthday. Once again, thinking of others. 

They each get a key-chain as the "ticket" to enter the dance and remember the night. The girls have never kept theirs but my girls aren't tons into "keepsakes" so I figured I would take a picture as I doubt it will last long in the house but it is a fun memory. 

When one couple came out for their twirl and walk down the stairs, they fired off "crackers" or confetti cannons and then the girl threw something on the stairs. I was still trying to figure out my camera lighting so I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. 

As we took pictures and ended back up on the stairs, I looked down and smiled as there on the ground was a huge $5 bill. There were quite a few on the stairs there. I guess the girl had a handful of these fake bills and was throwing them on the stairs while her date fired off the confetti cannon. I am not sure why she threw the bills but imagine my grin when I looked to see, "In God We Trust" staring up at me from this large bill. I felt it was a wonderful way for me to end the evening. I picked up the bill and cut out the words to put on my gratitude frame to remind me of all the things God has done to help me with the prom, the dress, the fabrics for the jacket etc. It was a great night and tomorrow, I get to post about my favorite part of the night!