VENICE (WSNN) – After the Sarasota County put restrictions on prom, moms of seniors at Venice High School decided to take prom matters into their own hands.
Sarasota County Schools gave the green light for seniors to go to prom. But there’s a caveat, no dancing. Students cried foul.
“Without dancing it’s more of just a sit-down and we can do that with our friends anywhere,” said senior, Trinity Angelo. “We just want it to like how it used to be, regular prom.”
“I saw and I was like this is a joke, right? I didn’t even believe it at first,” said Senior, Jackson Fleming.
“It was just disappointing and I was just really hoping to at least have one thing from our senior year, cause we go most of it ripped away from us,” said senior, Ethan Wendt.”
But these Venice High School moms and seniors are not turning in their dancing shoes just yet.
“They’ve had a lot taken away from them this past year,” said senior mom, Gail Wendt. “They didn’t have homecoming, they haven’t had a lot of things. Some of the sports teams didn’t get to participate in anything either. So it was really important for us to at least give them this.”
They’re hosting the dance at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice. It’s going to include a DJ, a photo booth, and of course… dancing. The senior class has more than 550 students, and Senior mom, Gail Wendt says they’re hoping a little less than half of the class to go.
The typical prom every year according to the school is roughly 300 to 350 people,” said Wendt. “If we could get more than 230 people, we would be really happy with that.”
They’ve already sold more than 130 tickets, at Saturday’s ticket sale. They’re requiring the students to sign liability waivers and show they’re ID’s when purchasing tickets.
“We’re going to make sure we get the students at the prom, and not random people,” said Wendt.
And there will be safety precautions
“They have to wear masks in the public areas of the building and the club there,” said Wendt. “So, we’re going to have hand sanitizers, we’re going to do temp checks at the door.’
“I’m thankful for all these parents to put together a final show for us this year,” said Fleming.
“Especially with all the stuff we’ve had cancelled, grad bash all that, it’s nice to have something that will actually be normal,” said Angelo.”
If you want to buy tickets they’ll be hosting more ticket sales in the future. You can get those details by emailing veniceseniors@gmail.com. Or visiting their Instagram page at Venice2021prom.
