Oakmont’s 2025 formal prom was juniors and seniors combined, differing from previous years where these grades had their own grade-designated proms. The dance took place on Saturday, April 5, at the Rocklin Event Center on Sunset Blvd.
The dance went from 7 PM to 10 PM and had several activities available such as photo taking, dancing, Black Jack, and more. Oakmont’s upperclassmen all have interesting perspectives on how the dance went.
Emily Richardson, an Oakmont senior, said she enjoyed that the prom had both juniors and seniors.
“I liked it better because if it was just the seniors it would have been really awkward,” Richardson said.
Derek Prior, a tri-athlete Oakmont junior, had contrasting opinions to Richardson, envying previous years.
“I think people would’ve enjoyed it better if it was just with their class,” Prior said. “I would like for my senior year to be with just seniors.”
Vanessa Ayoub, also a senior at Oakmont who attended the dance, had opinions on the quality of food and drinks provided for the students.
“The Crumbl Cookies were good. I tried one of the drinks [and they were] bad,” Ayoub said.
As for the location where the prom was hosted, people had strong opinions on the venue.
“[It looked like a] funeral home, but the outside was beautiful,” Ayoub said.
In addition to that, Richardson had a clearer reasoning behind why she did not think the venue was a good fit for the event.
“The venue was too big for the amount of people we had [attending Prom],” Richardson said.
Ayoub and Prior had positive opinions about the theme of the prom and spirit week.
“Spirit week was amazing [and] smart, with good ideas,” Ayoub said.
“I liked it a lot! The first two days were a little random and opposite, but other than that, I would say it was a pretty fun one and we should definitely continue that,” Prior said.
The opinions provided on the music at prom were not as positive.
“[The music was a] two out of ten. The songs were really bad,” Richardson said.
“They needed more throwbacks,” Ayoub said in reference to the music.
“I would say the music was just okay, it’s usually a little better,” Prior said.
Maria Gonzales, also a senior, provided some insight on how the dance went as well.
“The dance was a little bit on the boring side, [but] I think it is what you make of it. A lot of people were not choosing to make it fun. However, Blackjack was really fun,” Gonzales said.
Prior expanded further about the Blackjack tables and his experience with them.
“I think the Blackjack tables were a really good fit for it, [but] everyone got separated and I think that’s why we didn’t get as much hype as we thought we would,” Prior said.
When asked what could be improved on for next year’s prom we got several different answers.
“Making the venue smaller and getting a better DJ,” Ayoub said.
“Separating both the grades and also just having less activities because [the activities] separate everyone,” Prior said.
