Wide Angle Youth Media
More than 100 students from 10 different Baltimore-area schools attended a virtual prom organized by young volunteers with Wide Angle Youth Media, a nonprofit.
From choosing a theme to booking the DJs, planning a virtual prom during a pandemic offered one group of Baltimore-area high schoolers a chance to celebrate while learning valuable digital and multimedia skills.
The prom, which drew more than 100 students from 10 different schools, was organized by teenagers with Wide Angle Youth Media, a nonprofit that offers media education and youth development for young people ages 10 to 24.
The prom was part of a virtual event planning course Wide Angle launched in the wake of the pandemic when, like many nonprofits, it had to adapt to continue serving youth safely.
Organizations like Wide Angle have had to “get creative,” said Alli Lidie, the associate executive director of New York State Network for Youth Success, a network of after-school providers.
“It’s definitely been a shift,” she said.
In addition to plotting out the technical logistics of the video call, students at Wide Angle created a website, designed marketing content and reached out to local businesses for sponsorships.
They also sought to make the prom as inclusive as possible and lessen the social pressures and financial barriers that can exclude young people.
Prom registration included a “friend-making service” that matched students from different high schools to potential friends at the event. The broad historical theme, “A Dance Through the Decades,” left students a lot of room for informal, creative or second-hand outfits.
“I feel like a lot of learning environments would benefit from having that model where students are really able to choose what they want to do and choose how they want to grow their skills,” said Destiny Brown, an instructor at Wide Angle and a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Shahmeer Mirza, a freshman at George Washington Carver High School, made digital avatars for each member of the planning group, showing them dressed in their prom attire.
“My main job … has been focusing on making graphics,” he said.
Keiona Gorham, program director at Wide Angle, said the pandemic showed it was vital for the organization to “be more engaged in our students’ lives, and be good humans to our students.”
