Traditions
The school's prom is open to 11th and 12th grade (junior and senior) students. Since 1926, the high school has a special prom-date lottery system used so each student has a date during prom and so cohesion increases among the students. [4] The nuns operating the school at that time first created the tradition, in part to provide inclusion for the students who attended Aquin from St. Vincent's Orphanage (just across the street), and as years passed other elements became a part of the annual event. [5]
Annually, the students themselves choose to renew this small-school tradition. In 2017 Michelle Gallagher, who served as the junior class adviser, stated "It's less of a date and more like something fun to do with your classmates." [4] For the prospective prom-goers, on the day of "Prom Draw", the female students gather in the gymnasium and the male students in the library. [4] As one part of the fun tradition, the female students often wear masks, disguises or paper bags so the male students, when they see them, will not know who is who.
Each male student, wearing their normal attire, or dressed in a formal outfit or a special costume, [5] draws the name of a female student randomly from a hat. For their part of the tradition, many of the male students perform skits, with the aim of entertaining their prospective date. [4] After the skits are over the male students ask the females to be their prom dates. The female students give gift bags to the males, and some males also have gift bags for the females. [5]
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