In eighth grade, Lucy Sullivan (11) and Lily Bryan (11) sat on top of the pole vault pads on the Westview track after they submitted their applications to be freshman class presidents. 

“[We indulged] in this little fantasy for a second,” Sullivan said. “[We imagined] what it was going to be like if we were juniors and we got to plan Prom. We’ve had this event in mind for the past three and a half years and now that it’s finally coming together, I’m so excited because for a few years, it was looking pretty grim [due to COVID-19].”

Although it was noon on Feb. 18, when they first saw the view from the outdoor patio of the Loews Coronado Bay Resort, they could imagine the brilliant sunset and the Coronado Bridge framing the San Diego skyline. The dance would start at 7 p.m., when it would be bright enough to see the windows reflect the sunlight and twinkle.

Even before the prom planning process had begun, the venue had been established because a down payment had been placed on it for the 2020 Prom, which was canceled in the wake of COVID-19. This year, Sullivan and Bryan planned around the venue space. 

“We were trying to figure out a theme and I think the best thing about this year was because even the seniors right now have never seen a Prom,” Bryan said. “Maybe they’ve seen a formal, but they’ve never seen a Prom, so it really allowed us to break the script [and] try new things.”

This deviation from past Proms’ precedents began with the theme, which shifted from casual, abstract ideas like “Under the Stars,” to a theme that was more concrete and that prompted student participation and engagement: “Night at the Gallery.” The idea for this theme stemmed from when Sullivan was purchasing tickets to Beyond Van Gogh San Diego, an immersive Van Gogh exhibit with projections of his artwork lining the walls, ceiling and floor. This sparked an epiphany from Bryan; an art-themed dance.

In addition to having projections of impressionist art on the walls, Sullivan and Bryan said they hope to capture the theme by including an art gallery of student-submitted art, which are due by Monday, and a paint-by-number of the Coronado Bridge that attendees will contribute to during the event.

On April 7, Sullivan and Bryan hosted the Prom Expo, which revealed the event’s location and theme. The event featured a raffle for dresses, shoes, tuxes, and other Prom-related items that were donated by local businesses. 

“There was this one lady who I just randomly had reached out to when I did a Google search for ‘dress shops near me,’” Bryan said. “She actually got back to us saying that she’d be willing to donate three free dresses. [When] we needed to go pick up the dresses, it turned out we actually got 40 to 50 dresses.”

However, because only five of those dresses were full-length ball gowns and raffled off to students, and the rest were donated to the theater department to create costumes. Sullivan added that they also received about $2,000 worth of shoes. 

Another activity they planned is the Promposal Competition, which encourages students to submit themselves asking others to Prom.

Ally Choi (12) hopes to enter the competition for a chance to win a $100 dinner to an Italian restaurant called II Fornaio in Coronado and two free tickets to Prom. 

At the last track meet of the year, sprinter Matthew Flores (12) asked the coaches to let Choi lead the team out with the Westview cheer. 

“Westview on me, Westview on three, one, two, three Westview!”

“What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction started blasting over the speakers and Flores held the sign saying, “I know I’m a sprinter, but I’d relay go the distance to be w/ you @ Prom.”

“He’s a sprinter and normally during practices and meets, sprinters and distance really don’t interact that much and we’re kind of divided,” Choi said. “He always said that he wanted to bridge the gap between sprinters and distance, and that’s kind of what he did. Also, on the poster he put a baton for the relays and we always talked about the four-by-four relays because we both do that event.”

Sullivan and Bryan said that they look forward to seeing promposal submissions from students like Choi. 

While working with each other to plan for this event, Bryan has noticed how her friendship with Sullivan has benefited their working relationship.

 “Since Lucy and I have been in this position with each other for so long, we’ve cultivated a good relationship and we have figured out our strengths and our weaknesses really well,” Bryan said. “It’s nice that going into an event that’s as big as Prom, that we put on for [hopefully 900 students], it’s just nice to be able to have a healthy balance between us and confidence with each other so that we can confidently delegate.”

Although nervous, Sullivan and Bryan look forward to seeing their classmates at the event.

“We’re just so excited to see the enjoyment on our classmates’ faces,” Sullivan said. “That’s really what we do this for. We just want to see people enjoying their time there.”