Revere High School Student Council members along with many Revere seniors worked together to stage a prom for senior citizens in the Revere community.

Revere High School counselor and Student Council adviser Jenny Kirchner aided students in putting on the annual Revere Senior Citizens’ Prom on April 8. Revere has hosted this dance on and off since 2007, but consistently for the last four years. Kirchner explained that while she advises student council in putting together this event, it is really a student run operation.

“As student council adviser, I just help organize the students, but the students themselves pick the menu and advertise. It’s all part of our weekly student council meetings,” Kirchner said
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Along with Kirchner, student council member Caroline Crawford was the chairwoman for the Senior Citizens’ prom. She created the invitations, and along with Kirchner, mailed them out to about 120 senior citizens. In addition to Crawford, Student Council vice-president Courtney McClellan brought all the main entrees to the prom, and treasurer Simona Jasova managed the purchase orders and organized volunteers.

Kirchner explained that along with setting up the event, the students had to book a band, and they chose the Gene Fiocca Band, which they have used several times in the past as it is usually a hit with the senior citizens. Will and Ruth Apitz, who have been married for 57 years, attended their third Revere Senior Citizens’ Prom. They mentioned that as fans of the band, they follow Gene Fiocca around to their gigs.

Will also explained that the  hospitality that the Revere students show keep him and his wife coming back.

“Everybody was just so nice to us from the greeting at the door to showing us around and trying to help us out. It was really nice to see that in young people being so cordial,” Mr. Apitz said.

In addition to student council members volunteering, the prom provided Revere HIgh School seniors with the opportunity to get ten volunteering hours that they could use towards their final exam exemption criteria. Many seniors at the prom busied themselves with all sorts of tasks from preparing and serving food to washing dishes and even dancing with the senior citizens. Revere senior Jillian Carr volunteered at the prom and elaborated on what her responsibilities were and why it was a worthwhile experience.

“The responsibilities were mainly setting up food, decorating the gym and hallways, dancing, assisting [and] socializing with the senior citizens, escorting them in and out of the building, and then cleaning up after the night ended. It was really fun to volunteer with classmates that I normally don’t talk to often, [and] seeing how excited and thankful all the seniors were when they walked in the doors made it really awesome too,” Carr said.

Kirchner explained that the senior citizens thoroughly enjoyed dancing at the prom as well as spending time with the Revere students. She elaborated on why she loves seeing the interactions, especially the dancing, between the senior citizens and the students.

“I think any time you can have high school students connecting and communicating with senior citizens, it’s a good thing. The students were able to learn to dance [from the senior citizens], and we see a mutual respect between dance partners. It’s really moving to see the men act like gentlemen with respect towards their dance partners, and it’s a lot of fun,” Kirchner said.

According to Kirchner, the seniors appreciated the Senior Citizens’ Prom, and she has already received several phone calls from attendees asking to whom they should send a “thank you.”