Pennsbury Prepares for ‘Prom Night at the Museum’

For people attending Pennsbury’s famous prom on Saturday it’s going to be a night at the museum- or maybe all of the museums.

The 2014 theme for this year’s is “Prom Night at the Museum” and Pennsbury High School will be decked out in a series of famous exhibits from museums ranging from the artistic to the scientific and beyond.

The list of museums that will be featured are The Franklin Institute, The Smithsonian, The Louvre, The Philadelphia Museum Of Art , The American Museum of Natural History, The Crayola Factory, The Please Touch Museum, The Fels Planetarium, The Musee d’ Orsay, Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and even Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

Other features of the prom will include an Egyptian and Primitive themes, an art history timeline, 3-D Murals and a 20-foot automated centerpiece. feature a performance from “The Voice” finalist Matthew Schuler

Art Teachers Tony Napoli and  Curtis May have been the heads of this project for several years and say that putting a prom as big as Pennsbury’s together is a year-long process starting the week after the last prom has ended: Juniors of Pennsbury pick the theme, elect prom chairs and the planning process for one of America’s biggest high school proms begins.

With the final days fast approaching, Napoli said that progress is going well and that “everything will fall into place” by the time prom arrives.

Napoli said that one of his favorite parts of putting together this huge production is when the prom is being put together.

“It’s one of the only times art takes over the community,” he said with a smile.

And he couldn’t be more correct- parents, students, faculty and community members alike all volunteer for the cause of putting together this big event. Some members of the community come in as early as five months before the prom even starts just so they can get everything together on time.

Students, whether they are volunteers or otherwise couldn’t be more excited for Saturday. Senior Annalise Shumski, a prom chair for this years event said, “I’m really excited for prom. I excited for everyone to see it [the decor] and to enjoy it with me.”

Shumski has been working on decor for the prom for months saying that she liked the sculpting aspects required for the decor the best. “I liked being able to make something.” she said as she worked diligently on several replicas of planets that will be displayed at the prom.

Pennsbury bus driver Camille Shelhamer has been volunteering for the prom for the past 3 years and says that it is the art and the great company that keep her coming back every year.

It’s not just students and faculty that help get prom together, community members such as Prom Chairman Leslie Kleish come along for the ride as well.

As a community volunteer for 5 years, Kliesh says that a lot of people keep coming in for that very same reason “We come in here to get lost in our painting…it’s not only calming but gratifying.”

Napoli and the rest of the prom committee urge other community members to join in the preparations for next years prom as well. Those interested in volunteering should contact Tony Napoli at anapoli@pennsburysd.org.

Pennsbury has a long history of throwing some of the biggest proms in the country. Napoli says the tradition of putting on bigger and better proms started in 1994 with Pennsbury’s “City Life at Night”, where they built a light-up suspension bridge across the ballroom. Since then Napoli, the art department and the students kept putting on the ritz for the prom until it became the wonderland of all proms it is known as today.

As for prom this year, it will be held Saturday. The parade will begin at 5:15 p.m. and the doors to prom will open at 5:30 p.m.

Coverage of last year’s prom:

• Social Media Reacts to #PennsburyProm
• PHOTOS: Inside Pennsbury’s 2013 Prom
• PHOTOS: Pennsbury Prom Parade 2013
• Pennsbury Senior Prom Travels Through The Decades
• Pennsbury Prom: The Dilemmas of a Date