Amir Telushi (286)

School can get boring, with what feels like seven hours of endless learning. However, schools offer a variety of events to keep students involved and make the countless hours of work and studying worth it. Events unite a class and are what make the student body feel like one big family. This begs the question, though: which school event is truly the best? Some students might say the all-time favorite and most well-known event is prom, or a more niche option like the junior ice skating trip. Prom is one of the most popular events, offering a night of dancing, food, music, and uniting a grade into one big family. The junior ice skating trip is a less celebrated event among schools, but it still offers a time of skating and music for juniors.

Prom is the most recognizable event that has garnered the most attention among schools in the country. Prom is an event that is held both junior and senior year, so students can look forward to having this fun event not once but twice. Prom being held twice allows students who might have missed it junior year have a second chance to celebrate their prom senior year, allowing them to not miss out indefinitely. Proms are usually held at nice venues and offer good food, a dancefloor for students to spend the night on, and a wide variety of music. Prom also invites students to dress up fancily for the night and allows students to take nice pictures with family and friends. A committee is created in order to pick a theme and handle decorations, allowing students to have an impact on the event. A prom king and queen can be elected, creating one of the most memorable nights for two lucky students. Prom can also bring in students from other schools to join in on the fun, creating an even more entertaining environment. Prom is only celebrated by one specific grade in a school, and it truly unites the grade into feeling like one big family celebrating together. However, students can only celebrate this lively night if they are not ineligible due to lateness, cuts, or low grades. Saanvi Sheth (285), a student who has previously celebrated junior prom, said, “I think prom was the best event because I was able to dress up with my friends, do their makeup, dance on the dancefloor to many songs, and take photos in the photobooth, which was really fun.”

Although many students will pick prom as their favorite event and mainly be excited for it, it’s not the only event students can look forward to. The junior ice skating trip is a newly reintroduced event for juniors at Central to look forward to their junior year. Students will be sent to Dilworth Park, which is right in front of the Philadelphia City Hall, where a nicely sized ice skating rink is set. Students can expect free hot chocolate, music, and two hours of skating around freely. The ice skating trip is set during school hours, so students can expect to miss classes and, if they’re lucky, even tests. After leaving the school, students will take SEPTA down to Dilworth Park and meet together to start the event. Just like prom, other students from different schools can join in on the fun as the trip bleeds into the afternoon, allowing for more participants. Being in the heart of Center City, students can treat themselves to a food place of their choice after, with many options to choose from. Despite the ice skating trip not having as many prom offers, it’s still a loaded event for a much cheaper price. Students can expect to spend only twenty dollars total for the whole ice skating trip, whereas prom might have students spending two hundred to a thousand dollars total. Marquez Browne-Rosario (286), a participant and organizer for the ice skating trip, shared, “I personally consider it one of my favorite events because it got our class out and I had an amazing time hanging out with friends outside of Central and having fun outside of school is really important… despite the cold, we all had an amazing time.”

The school year is far from over, meaning there are still plenty of events students can look forward to celebrating. Whether students are excited for prom, a night out to dance, eat, and dress up with their whole grade and make memories for a lifetime, or current sophomores excited for the junior ice skating trip, a time to skate around, drink hot chocolate, and even miss a bit of school. One thing to remember is these wide variety of events can only be a moment to remember if the students make it a day to remember.