Prom night is quickly approaching with every passing hour and RB is buzzing with excitement.

This year’s theme, ‘A Night in Italy’, was chosen based on the venue and is attracting a lot of people to the dance.

“I love it! Its different, and I like how the tickets look like boarding passes,” said junior Jeanene Splitt.

Speaking of boarding passes, the students going to prom might as well be boarding a flight to Italy.

“The venue we’re using is called the Galleria Marchetti and it has a kind of Italian theme. It’s an Italian themed place with Italian themed food. So it made sense to have the theme be ‘A Night in Italy’,” said John Fields, co-sponsor of Prom.

Upperclassmen and underclassmen will be attending their first and last high school proms, so many students are making sure to take advantage of it and make prom a night to remember.

“I’m excited to see more how formal it is than homecoming,” says Splitt.

Prom, although only one night, can be a large part of a student’s high school experience.

“I’m a little sad because it’s becoming real that I’m not coming back next year. I’m kind of going to miss it,” said Senior Dalila Ovalle.

A few teachers who work here currently got their high school diploma from RB; they are really able to compare and contrast older and current proms in our school.

Social Sciences teacher Erin Cunningham shares her RB prom memories.

“My senior prom was at the Museum of Science and Industry, which was pretty awesome and in college gave me a nice conversation starter. When you’re a freshman in college, people ask about prom and it will come up because its relatively recent,” said Cunningham.

She goes on to describe the special details that made the night so special.

“The venue was a little bit more exciting because we could walk through some of the exhibits while wearing your fancy clothes. The other thing I did and I don’t know if it’s still offered or not was there was a post prom activity and it was a cruise on Lake Michigan. You had to pay extra for that. It was kind of a cool thing after to have done,” said Cunningham.

Just like today, students feel differently than others and have varying opinions on prom.

Kevin Turk, Social Sciences teacher and member of RB’s class of 1992, remembers attending prom as a junior and senior. “I have planned two proms. Planning it is a big deal; a big process. I feel like it is a bigger production now than it was then. When I went it was at a banquet hall by Oak Brook mall. From what I remember it was pretty bland,” said Turk.

The prom court nominations have been released. The nominees for king are John Suba, Nathan Juarez, Nick Allegretti, Keenan Scott, and Adrian Castro. The nominees for queen are Taylor Rosicky, Mia Caballero, Madi Hornung, Ivy Marcucci, and Coco Murray.