Student Council and Older Adult Connection (OAC) members teamed up to host the Senior Citizen Prom. The event took place in the NC cafeteria on April 26. OAC created posters and fliers to inform the community and schools about the event, while student council decorated the cafeteria for it.

“[The Senior Citizens Prom] provides an opportunity for [students] to interact with high school students, fostering connections between generations, and I believe some of the older adults who participated were also family members of students, adding a personal touch to the event,” OAC sponsor Kristen Sisto said.

The event encourages residents to leave their senior living home and enjoy a fun, engaging event, Sisto said. 

“The best part is dancing with the senior citizens to the live music,” OAC member Chika Nduka ‘26 said. 

Before last year, the last senior citizen prom took place in 2019 before being forced into a hiatus because of COVID-19. LT had gotten feedback in years past that local seniors still didn’t feel safe attending such an event. 

“It took a while before Student Council, the school, and our local community felt safe inviting seniors back for this event,” head Student Council Advisor Peter Geddeis said. “It was something that Student Council had discussed bringing back early in the 2023-24 school year, and when OAC reached out about putting on such an event, it was immediately obvious that this was a natural collaboration to be pursued.”

OAC contacts the senior living communities to invite them to attend this event, Geddeis said. The Student Council maintains a mailing list of past attendees to whom they send invitations to and the Community Relations department provides support by posting about the event on the school marquees and via numerous communication channels.

“We’re hoping to welcome [over 100] seniors to the event, based on last year’s response and our earlier marketing efforts this year,” Geddais said. 

Over the past years, attendance had varied. LT has had as few as 40 attendees, and as many as 100 plus. 

“The students definitely loved the gingerbread houses we did with senior citizens at Bethlehem Woods,” Nduka said.

Current OAC members have noted that the meetings have grown in size, and there are more students on the waitlist for events, Sisto said. OAC plans other student-senior events such as a Halloween Costume Party and crafts, a Gingerbread house-making event, and a Jeopardy game day. Meetings consist of brainstorming ideas for their monthly event at a senior citizen home or decorating cards and goodie bags for them.