Spring Gala

Last weekend "Emma" and "Eric" went to a "Spring Gala" hosted by a home school association in another town.  This was the first of such an event in our area and it was a big success.

 Emma found her dress at the Goodwill for $20.00 (Woo Hoo!)

For the most part, Emma has few regrets about being home schooled in high school.  Two things give her pangs of longing for some of the "perks" of traditional high school life. One is the prom and the other is graduation.  For the most part, these are just things that she has resigned herself to as part of the sacrifice of homeschooling (especially in a small town with a small home school association) and she admits that the rewards outweigh the sacrifices.  This last year we have been talking about trying to do something to provide a prom alternative when Emma is in her junior or senior year.  I honestly was hoping not to have to do this, however.  Planning an event on that level seems like a daunting task.  I was thrilled a few months back, however to see the announcement for the "Spring Gala" in my email box.  Somebody had planned a prom alternative for us! And at a reasonable price too -- 17.50 per person or $60.00 per family.

(Instead of hiring a professional photographer, they set up a photo booth where you could have someone take photos with your own camera)


I love the way this event was planned.  First of all, it was a family event for anyone over the age of 13.  Parents, students, friends, grandparents, etc. were all invited to be part of this dance.  While students could bring a date if they wished, this was completely optional.  We have encouraged Emma to wait until after high before she starts to date for a variety of reasons that I won't go into in this post.  It wasn't the date part that was feeding Emma's longing for a prom experience -- it is all the pomp and beauty of the "prom".  The idea of getting dressed up, finding the perfect dress, fixing hair and make up to perfection -- these are things almost all girls love to do and Emma is no exception.

The theme of the Gala was based on the academy awards.  Each parent was encouraged to "award" their student in a particular category based on the student's strengths.  The parents wrote scripts for their students giving an explanation as to why the student was chosen for the award along with other areas of student interest and the student's future plans.

Emma is a great writer and has us laughing by writing musical parodies from time to time, so she received "The Best Musical Parody" award.

 After a dinner buffet, the organizers had a professional dance instructor give dance lessons in "regency style" (Jane Austen's era).  After having read two Austen novels and having repeatedly seen film adaptations of every Austen novel, this was a real treat for Emma.

This event also had a time of recognition of the seniors along with "senior displays" -- slide shows, scrapbooks, mementos -- of the student's life.

 Emma came home so excited about this and strongly encouraged me to go next year.  Marianne will be old enough to participate by then, so I think there will be four of us attending next year. I am so impressed with all the work these parents put into this effort that I volunteered to help next year if they need it.