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The Student News Site of Prospect High School

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Intergenerational prom unites community

Senior Lauren MacNab at Intergenerational Prom. Photos courtesy of David Jacobson.

By Brian Park
Staff Writer
The attendance of Prospect students was pretty low at the prom last weekend, but the 21 students who went did not go with their typical boyfriends or girlfriends. Instead they went with other students and danced, whether it was the Macarena, electric slide or the chicken dance, with elderly people in the community they most likely didn’t know.

   This was the intergenerational prom, a prom for both students and the elderly in the community. According to service learning coordinator David Jacobson, the prom was a way to get younger and older people together.

   This year, it was held at Forest View Educational Center on April 15 from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m and accommodated 140 people. This event has even been going on for over 20 years, according to Jacobson.

   “It is a little awkward at first,” senior participant Lauren MacNab said. “But overall, all the people who were there were very friendly and they were enjoying themselves as well. It put you later on into a comfortable state when you were dancing and talking with them.”
For MacNab it was her first time attending the intergenerational prom even though she has been a member of Service Club during all of her high school years.

   “Just by going, it shows how people are willing to go out of their comfort zone and socialize with people who they normally aren’t used to socializing with,” MacNab said. “You’re able to talk to people in the community and find similarities and differences between one another.”

   According to Jacobson, the prom was pretty typical. People had fun and it was full of life and energy. Besides going for pleasure, however, there was a deeper purpose behind the event.

   “[We would] just try to break down the stereotypes both groups might have about each other,” Jacobson said.
The theme of the intergenerational prom this year was ‘An Arabian Dream’. After dinner, both students and the elderly could experience a belly dancing performance, followed by dancing and dessert. 

   “I enjoyed the belly dancing, which was kind of cool,” MacNab said. “I thought that was kind of exotic because you don’t get to see that a lot.”

   There was music from both generations to even out what both students and the elderly would enjoy. Regardless of the different types of music, both groups were able to dance along with the music, according to MacNab.

   “The atmosphere always seems to me like a wedding,” Jacobson said. “[It was] full of life, energy and wisdom, and a great time.”
According to Jacobson, the intergenerational prom reveals much about the elderly in the community. Unlike being viewed negatively by being seen in nursing homes or riding a wheelchair, students really found about the good qualities they have and how much they care.
“I think it’s important to have events like this . . . to get to know the other people in your community,” MacNab said. “ You’re not only getting to know people around your age, but getting to meet and introduce yourself to people that are older to you that are within the community. I think just that connection and uniting as one is a great experience and a great learning experience as well.”

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