One Day Left Till Prom!!!!

Today has been one of the busiest days for me. Tomorrow is prom, and we have been trying to make sure that we get enough students to buy prom tickets. We had a final count of eighty one tickets sold by the end of the day. I also had to make sure that all the papers for the prom are done such as the list of juniors and seniors so that everyone can vote for the prince princess, queen and king.  I can't wait until tomorrow so that everything can be over with. 

There is now a week before prom and not to many people have bought there tickets. We are still missing to buy the decorations for prom, the crowns and the awards that will be passed out that night. I was also thinking that we should buy a cake to have at the prom to go along with the menu. I hope that by the middle of the week we can have a good amount of tickets sold.

Tickets were put on sale today. I have a feeling that no one is going to but tickets till the end of the month. One thing that I would of done differently is put the invitations together a month or two before the prom. That way I wont have to worry about students not being able  to attend prom. 

Rough Day!

Thanks to Taylor, Rosa, and Mike for helping me get the prom invitations together. Today was a very rough day for me. Dealing with things outside of school is hard while dealing with a senior project. Today I was able to get the prom tickets ready to be sold. I Also got most of the poster done with the help of Rosa and Taylor. I am glad that I have friends that can help me out with some things because keeping a prom committee together is not easy and never will be. The things that I have to get done is, order the tiaras and crowns, buy decorations, and buy the supplies to get the prom favors together.

Its time to get things done!!!!

I just got back from party city. I bought the confetti for the invitations. My goals for tomorrow are to have all invitations numbered off, and have them all fixed to start selling them. I also want to have the poster that will say where to buy the prom tickets ready. Everyone should be able to start buying prom tickets this week.

Prom Menu

2009 Prom Menu:

2 Soda Chips

 

Cheese andCrackers

Vege Crudite

 

Salad

Rolls & Butter

 

Buffet:

 

Fresh Fruit

Pasta Red

Pasta Primavera

Potatoes

Chicken

Ham

 

Cookies

 

Cost: $25.00

Prom Committee Meeting

Today during the prom committee meetings we were looking at the prom invitations that we ordered. Everyone liked them. We then began to look over the prices for the prom pictures. Everyone felt the the price was reasonable for the packages. We also liked the memory books which cost $15.00 each. I talked to them about the games that we wanted to have at the prom. I was also offered today by a friend that if we were to get a black jack table that he would run the table for us if we can not get a teacher to do it for us. Since money can not be involved we are going to use fake money and we will have prizes to give to those who win. 

Prom Games

Today Norah, Denicia and I had scheduled an appointment with fun services for today. Fun services is a place where you can rent out games for a carnival or any kind of event. We went to take a look at casino games for the prom, and also to look at games that Denicia could use for her senior project event. We decided that we are going to get the big 6 wheel. We are not sure which table game we want to have at the prom yet. We are going to have to talk to the prom committee to agree on what games to get. We thought that this place was in downtown but it wasn't. We had a long ride. This place was located towards Charlotte. It is on stace street. When we arrived to the place we did not think we were at the right place because it was a warehouse that had different companies connected together. We thought it was in downtown at first because on there flyer they made a mistake with the name they put state street instead of stace street. 

Time Is Flying by....

Today during my math class we were going through the work that we have and have not completed. Our teacher, Deb, starts to talk about how third quarter is done this week and how the fourth quarter is right around the corner and its going to finish fast. All the seniors and I looked at each other. We could not believe how fast this school year is flying by so fast. We only have just about three months till graduation. It kind of scared us the way that she said it. All the other years that I have been in School Without Walls went by so slow and now that it is our last year it is going by to fast.

Menu

Picking out a menu was not as easy as i thought it would be. First I went to rick's prime rib house to get copy's of what we can have on our menu. Our starting price for menu was $22.00 per person. I then went back to the prom committee to decide what we would like to have for the prom. We have settled down to have the cost at $25.00 per person. We have changed the menu around so many times. I am glad we have finally had the last change to it. I will be posting up what our menu looks like soon.

Budget

Today I looked over the amount of money that the prom committee and I have made from fundraisers. We have made the total of $779.35. I don't think that is bad. That is pretty good coming from fundraisers. The money we have made is going towards expenses for the prom. We have also filled out a proposal and was passed to get $250.00 from student generated funds to go towards prom decorations and invitations. 

Ice Cream Sale!!!!!

We have not had any fundraisers for a while due to Monday's and Friday's being used for senior trip fundraisers. Then on Wednesdays I have my prom committee meetings and Thursdays are community service days. So now we will be having fundraisers on Tuesdays. We made a total of $25.95. Something that I would have done different to have a better sale would be to make sure that everyone brings in what they said they would ahead of time. Also get one of the prom committee members to take charge of making flyer's of our fundraisers before the day comes.

Prom Photographer

Today I had a meeting with Micheal Antonio. He was the photographer for our school several times in the past. I like working with him. When he came in he had a sample book of something that we can sell along with the prom tickets. It a book that would have pictures of things during the prom, its like a style of a mini year book. I thought it was a nice idea. In order to have those this year we have to get at least 30 of them sold. Which I dont think would be a problem. Micheal will be coming in again in April to give us samples of the ooks so that we can show to those who are buying ticket.

Fundraiser

Since I was not able to meet with the photographer yesterday I meet up with him today. His name is Daron Warrick. He also came with Doris Armstrong who is a founder and event planner. We started off the meeting buy saying what the fundraiser was for. It was Shelinda, Raven and I who sat down to speak to them. Then Daron should some pictures that he had taken before on his laptop. After the whole meeting I felt that they did not show what we were looking for and that they did not look interested in working with us. Maybe because it was a school thing or it could have been because he might have thought that we were 15 yrs old or something and that we would not stick to working with them. They told me that they were going to send me an email. I will be waiting to see if they are willing to work with us.

What an exciting and Happy Day For Me!!!!

Today I was suppose to meet with a photographer. Thsi photographer was not for prom but for a fundraiser. Well I had to cancel it because My brothers fiance was in labor. I told my brother that I will be there for him thoughout the entire process and that is what I did. The Baby was born. Her name is Isabella Carmela Lebron. Born at 3:20pm today. 8lbs 10oz and 22in. She is so adorable. This is my 4th niece, and My bothers first baby. He was so happy to see her and glad that I could be there for him.

My Brother holding his daughter:

What A Busy Day!!!!!!!.....

Today is one of the most important days towards completing all requirements for the prom. With help from Shelinda Ward, a senior at School Without Walls. I was able to go around to all extended classes to talk to Teachers and students about the prom. I began with talking to them about the information that I have about the prom such as: location, day of prom, food, ticket prices, Appearance, Who can attend prom, and age limit for those who don’t attend our school.

The two most important things that I spoke to them about are appearance and age limit for outsiders. It was where the most students had something to say about and that I had problems with. I told them: " We are having our prom at an Elegant Banquet Hall, NOT at a CLUB. You must be dressed appropriately. This is mainly going towards all the girls. My community experts are going to be there and I don’t think that’s the way that you will like to represent yourself. You will make yourself look bad." Many gave attitude and had smart remarks but like I told them, " If you don't go by what is told you will be sent out and you will not get a refund on you prom ticket." For the age policy I told all students, "If your date does not attend this school they must bring in a ID and fill out a form with Rick. The age limit for your date can be no older than 21." Only one student out of the whole school wanted to be stubborn and argue. I told her I am not going to argue with you the age policy has always been the same. I don't think that you would want your parents to walk into your prom and see you dancing with a guy that is in their late twenties. There is a reason why there is a age policy for a reason. The last thing we would need is for something to happen to a student. I am not going to let anyone ruin my senior project and keep me from graduating. After that many of the students in that one class understood why their is a age policy. The one girl still continued to say that they didn't care about the policy. I just ignored it and tried to not lose my patience with her. I remained calm with those few students that wanted to stubborn. I told them what is expected and its what needs to be followed.

After speaking to them about the information I had all teachers and student vote on the theme for this years prom. The choices to pick from were Casino Royal, Masquerade Ball, and 80's. I explained to them what each of the themes would look like. Then they all voted by a show of hands. After voting for themes I had them vote on my proposal. The proposal that I came up with was so that the prom committee could have $250.00 from student generated funds to pay for decorations and invitations. The rationale was that if thry agree with the proposal this will help to keep the price for the prom tickets to be $30.00 or lower. I explained to them that many other schools pay between the price of $50.00 to $60.00 for prom tickets and they all said oh ok we agree with the proposal. After finally going around to all classes I sat down and gathered all the proposals and the theme votes. I first looked over the votes for the theme because I was hoping that the one I wanted won. I tallied up the votes and these were the total votes for each: 96 votes for Casino Royal, 37 votes for Masquerade Ball, 29 votes for the 80's theme and then 9 students from Gil’s class came up with Gangster G's for a theme and only got nine votes which are the ones who came up with it. I wrote down the votes in pen so that no one says that I changed it. I am so glad that Casino Royal won and I was glad that all students voted yes for the proposal that I passed around.

After looking over all of the papers Janet, who was my extended class teacher last year told me that she was proud of how I did today. That I was confident and that I have changed allot since when I first started in this school. I was able to speak in front of all the students in each class without a problem. I am known to be very shy. I like to work on my own. Ever since I got to my senior year you see that I have changed. I talk to everyone and help those who are needed and I also get along with everyone. I hope that this prom comes out great and that nothing comes in the way of me graduating.

~Music~

Today I scheduled a meeting with the DJ for our prom. His name is Pedro Lebron. Well he is my Dad but when ever I have to schedule him for a event I have to treat him as if he were any other DJ. Business is Business and that is the way to handle it. He was nice enough to write up a contract for us. That way I could have an idea of how the contract would look like. I will be going to Rick's Prime Rib House as an internship to get an idea of how they run a restaurant while they have guest use their Hall above it at the same time. It is most likely to know that you have to always expect the unexpected and be able to handle a situation. I will have Phil, my expert look over the contract that the DJ made for us and also have him review my final Senior Proposal.

Prom Theme

Today I got some prom catalogs from Norah. I looked them over and it gave me an idea for this years prom. One way to get a lot of students to come to prom is by having a good, fun, and interesting theme. Other Seniors and I have thought about having the theme for our prom be Casino Royal . Its something new and fun. I asked a couple of students to see what they thought about it and they said they would love for prom to be Casino Royal theme. They said that they were tired of all the themes from the past because it seemed to be the same every year. If we have this theme for this year it is a guarantee that more students will show up.

Prom Meeting

Today we had the first prom committee of the month. We had Denicia Ortiz, who is currently a senior here at School Without Walls, come in to the meeting. She has been helping us with fundraisers. She is planning to have a Valentines Day Dance at our school. She has been kind enough to set up fundraisers and give us half of the profit she makes. The prom committee and I will be helping her by buying things that are needed so that we can all work together to continue having fundraisers. Not many student have been showing up to prom committee meetings. The student who do show up a seniors because they care about the prom since it is there last year here and they want it to be better than the ones in the past. We have decided that we wanted a new place to have it at, new theme that are in no way related to the ones we've had before and to have better decorations. This will bring us to the best prom ever.

Holiday Vacation!!

What a long Holiday vacation. As for me I spent my days off from school in New York City. Now I am back to school and trying to come up with some ideas for the prom. I have set up a deadline which is to find the photographer for our prom. Also to have a fundraiser where we will make more money compared to the other fundraisers we have had so far this school year. Its already January and we have five to six months until the school prom. I also have to write up a proposal so that the student generated funds can match up the money that the prom committee makes.

Life as a Senior...

Many students feel that Seniors don't have much to do and that we get out of class just so that we do not have to do work. Seniors at School Without Walls have many resposibilities. We have to make time for our everyday school work and for our senior projects. We have senior meetings to go to, and interships to go to. It all depends on what your senior project we have. As for me I am organizing my schools prom. Every wednesday I have to meet with the prom committee. I also have to take time out of my classes to go visit locations for the prom, which we have already chossen. I have to also schdule senior meetings and I also have to visit my community expert and have fundraisers during personal needs time. Then I have to go in to school the next day to see what i missed so that i can complete the assignments tat i missed so that i can get my school credit in order to graduate this year. After school from 2:30 to 5 or 6pm. I go to the gym to make up for credit that I am missing. Other than school work many of us have jobs and have family and other things to deal with. I am currently looking for a job so i try to fill out applications while i can when i am not working on school stuff. I have been doing a good job with making up for my work on my own time.

Senior Exit Interview

Today was senior exit interviews. Senior exit interviews is when Key Bank comes in to talk to all seniors about what plans we might have for our self’s later on in life. What where our weaknesses, and our strengths. I feel that these meeting are just so that we senior can begin to think about what we are going to do after graduation. What are some goals that we want to meet. I was very worried about having this interview but it was not that bad. My interviewer was mike it seemed like a very nice person to speak to. He also spoke to me about his wife who takes part of the Fairy Godmothers Convention, where they give away prom dresses for girls. I am glad that I went to this meeting and got it done.

Prom Committee

The Prom Committee and I have been focusing on fundraisers for the prom. We have had three fundrasiers so far, an ice cream sale, halloween basket rafle and a techer lunch in. For these three fundrasiers we made a toal of $186.28. Today I had a bake sale with Denica. Denicia is also a senior at School Without Walls. We made about $50.00. Her senior project is party planning. She is going to help the Prom by making fundraisers. She gave the prom committee half of what we made during the bake sale. So now we have a total of $211.28 to go towards the expenses for prom. I am glad that she will be helping us when she can. After Christmas break we will begin to focus on prom themes, photographer, and the menu and we will still be having fundraisers.

Always expect the un expected....

"Always expect the un expected." Today I went to Rick's Prime Rib house to shadow Phil. As soon as I got there I was told that it had been a very busy morning. There was a leak coming in from the hall above the restaurant. All of the restaurant's menus got wet. I was asked to put new menus into the menu books since they where dry, while they put everything back in its place. I had to shadow Mike instead of Phil.

Mike told me that he pretty much spends time there to help out Phil. He works as the clerk. He talked to me about booking guest and seating arrangements. He said that it is an easy task but the only problem they have sometime is when they have walk-ins. They have to make seating arrangements because most tables are booked everyday. He tried to relate the work that I have to do for the prom to the work he does there. The problem that they had with the leak is a example of how something can go wrong when prom is about to start and that you should not stress you just have to fix the problem step by step because at the very end no one will notice that anything went wrong. I am glad that Phil was able to let me come in and have this experience.

Senior Project Meeting

My first Senior Project meeting had been rescheduled for today. I called up Phil, My expert, from Rick's Prime Rib House and found out that he was not going to be able to attend the meeting. I still meet with my two teachers and my student after school so that we can go over my proposal and that way I have an idea of how my meeting will go. I got good feed back from my student Aubrey and my two teachers Larry and Norah. I am glad that we had this meeting. I have to really focus on getting this meeting down. This is a important part of my senior project in order to graduate. I hope that the next time that I schedule my meeting that it does not get cancelled.

Staff Lunch-In

Today I worked on things for the teacher lunch-in. I contacted some students from the prom committee that were not able to attend our last meeting. I looked over what everyone said that they were going to bring in for the teacher lunch-in in order to let others know what was missing that they could bring in. I created a menu that I will be giving to all teachers on Thursday. It might be changed before then because some students were not sure what they were going to exactly bring in. I also worked on making my agenda for my first senior meeting that will be on November 21st , 2008 at 2:30 at my school. I hope that my meeting is not going to need to get re-scheduled for a third time. I made sure that I got both of my teachers schedules to know when they were available and then I talked to my expert, Phil from Rick’s Prime Rib House.

Prom Committee Meeting

Today was another Prom Committee meeting and we all agreed upon having a Teacher Lunch-In. A teacher lunch-in is where teachers pay to have a whole meal including dessert for $8.00. It gives teachers a chance to sit back and have a break from school work. We are going to have our teacher lunch in on Friday November 21st. I went around to all of the teachers with a flyer that I made that had information on the lunch -in they each had to write if they were or were not attending and what would they like to eat for this day. That way the prom committee would have and idea of how many teachers will be going, how much food has to be brought in and who has to bring in what.

We also created a phone tree. All the students that are in the prom committee had to write down there name, extended class and phone number. The reason why we created a phone tree is because we have had many students come to prom committee meetings and agree to bring things in for our fundraisers and then when the day of the fundraiser comes along no one brings in what they said they would bring in. Hopefully this will be a great way to remind students to bring in what they agreed to bring in. I will like to thank the students that have been coming to the prom committee meeting ever since day one. It is very helpful to have others help. This is not a easy thing to do if you have no help.

Prom Committee Meeting

Today’s prom committee meeting we based it on fundraisers. We came up with the following fundraisers, Halloween basket raffle, Halloween bake sale, candy sale and face painting. We decided to have a Halloween basket sale. We came up with the idea of filling the basket up with movie ticket gift cards, lots of candy, silly string, temporary hair color spray, and a teddy bear and glow sticks. I think that this is a good fundraiser because we had done a fundraiser just like this one once before but it was a valentines day basket instead.

Prom Location

For the third location that we had to visit for prom was the RIT Inn. I went there today with Norah who is my second teacher for my senior project and Christina Cruz who is also attends School Without Walls and is a senior this year. We taked to Francine Di Tomaso. We then got a tour or the lobby, the room that we will be using and of a area outside where anyone can go to take a break. We had our prom here my sophmore year. We always have this place on our list for a choice to have our prom at every year.

Rick's Prime Rib House

Today I visited Rick's Prime Rib House on Buffalo Rd. I went with Larry who is my extended class teacher. I also went with two other student from my school who are also seniors this year. When we first got there, I thought it was nice. The outside of the place did not look fancy in daylight but it does look very nice at night, but once I stepped inside of this place I thought it was very nice.

It looked very elegant. But it’s like they always say; "Don’t judge a book by its cover." I thought that the place will be perfect to have our prom at. It made me give the other place that we really like a second thought.

(More pictures will be added soon!!)

Visiting The Robach Community Center

Today during extended class I had to go to a meeting that Norah (one of my committee members) set up. Norah, Kristie (My Buddy & Prom Committee Member) and I went to the Robach Community center to take a look around. As soon as I got there I liked how the place looked. It has a loop in the front were people can be dropped of if we have the prom there.

(All pictures posted in this blog were taken by me today during the visit)

If we were to have the prom there we will be having it on the second floor. There is a dance floor in the very center of the room. Two Balcony's are located in the front and back for the building, but the front balcony is off limits.

When we stepped out on the balcony it was a beautiful view. I loved it. The view was what made me really want to have the prom here. There are stairs located on both sides of the balcony which leads to the beach. Anyone who gets tired of dancing can take a nice walk in the sand along the beach.

Now I have to set up an appointment with at least two more places that way i can have more options of where we can have the prom at. If we do it here at this place we would have to find a caterer, decorator and of course a photographer. Kristie and I were thinking that if we do it here at this place the we as in the prom committee can decorate most of the prom ourselves. But we will discuss all of that once we make up our minds about where we will have the prom at.

Thankz Kristie and Norah For Helping Me Set this up today and For going with me!! I also want to say thankz to Ken for lending me the School Camera At the last minute.

1st Senior Road Show

Today was my very first senior road show. A senior road show in my school is when senior have to go around to about five extended classes and talk about their senior projects. All the senior were paired up in groups of about five. In my opinion I felt that it went very well every one was very respectful and quiet. Many gave feedback on our projects. Wer as senior also had to give advice for those who will one day be in our positions. Mines was that you have to be sure that you keep up with all senior project deadlines, plan what you want to do for your senior project during the summer, and also have a back up plan incase your first choice is not approved by our schools staff!

1st Prom Committee Meeting!!!!!

Thinking that no one would have shown up to the meeting but I was wrong. There were senior's Junior's and Sophmore's. Norah and I both introduced our selves then we began to talk about where we can have the prom at. We have also set up a date for our first fundraiser which will be on October 8. We may also be having a type of photo shoot for the Oktober fest with backdrops. We are just not sure how we will be developing the pictures if we are going to do it right then and there or if we are going to take it to get developed at a certain place and give then the picture the following Monday when we get back from the weekend.

Tomorrow During personal need time at 12:30 I will be having the first prom committee meeting. It is going to be held in Norah’s office. I hope that some students show up. I am going to be choosing my two students for my senior committee out of those to go to the meeting. The problem that I have is that I have always talked to students from the same grade that I am in and they are also senior now and they cant be on my prom committee.

Senior Seminar Class

In my senior seminar class we did a discussion based on the senior road show. We had to answer six questions on index cards. The six questions that we answered are most likely our speeches that we need to have with the extended classes that we get placed in. I also found out that my senior project was approved!!! I did not know what I was going to do if it would have not gotten approved. I did not have any type of back up plan.

A Talk Needed About The Senior Project

I need to talk to Norah to see when I can start to gather students for the prom committee. I know that it can be on any day except Tuesdays and Thursdays. I feel that it isn’t to early to start the prom committee because that way we are able to make money, that way we don’t have to worry about there not being enough money at the last minute and things don’t start to come down.

Journal VS Blog

I am not sure what I want I am going to do about the whole senior blog thing. I feel that if I begin a blog that it will be hard for me to write in it everyday because I do not have internet access. My dad had a wireless internet card but he has to pay for it to be turned on. If I write in a regular journal it might be a easier way. The thing is that I really wanted to do a blog because it goes along very well with my senior project.

Senior Seminar Class

In my senior Seminar Class Dave and the student teacher Jason kept on telling us that we have to choose out of having a senior journal or a senior blog. I am going to choose a Blog. The reason why I am choosing to create a blog is because I would be able to get feedback from many people and I am able to take photos. Dave also agreed on the blog idea for my senior project. If student choose to write a blog they have to write in it everyday because it keeps track of what day and time you write and post a blog. Also students in the school can keep updated with information about the school prom.

For my senior project I have decided that I want to plan the prom and do all fundraiser’s. When saying planning the prom I am talking about finding a DJ, Photographer, and a place to have the prom at. Also doing all the fundraisers in order to have money to pay for everything within the prom. I feel that every year if its Anne Marie or Norah, they always have a lot on their hands trying to deal with the prom and teaching their classes.

Intro

Hi My name is Blanca. I am currently a student at School Without walls. I am am also a senior this year. Class of 09!!! In order to graduate all seniors are required to have a senior project. For My senior Project I will be learning the job of a party coordinator. To do so I will be organizing my schools prom this year. I will put together a school wide prom committee and will be organizing many fundraisers. At The end of the year I will have this blog for my senior journal, and a scrapbook containing information and pictures on the process of organizing the school prom.

If you have any ideas, commnets or questions please fill free to comment on any of the blogs!!!