COLUMBUS, Ohio — High school students are relieved to be celebrating normal proms after dealing with the pandemic’s disruption to education for two years.

What You Need To Know

• Schools are holding normal prom celebrations without masks and other restrictions


• While schools had proms last year, many of the events were modified for COVID-19


• Students are glad to be celebrating this year after the pandemic disrupted high school

Central Ohio school districts said they are holding their prom ceremonies without any COVID-19 restrictions this year.

Last year, Olentangy Orange High School put on an event for seniors, a dinner at the Columbus Zoo, which the students appreciated, but it wasn’t the same as bringing 700 students together to dance without masks, principal Trond Smith said. 

“Prom really marks a rite of passage, and that's something that we had missed the last few years,” Smith said. 

Olentangy Orange recently held this year's prom at Kemba Live in Columbus’s Arena District.  

“We’re trying to find ways to reconnect with each other, with the high school experience, and having things like prom, students being able to be back at athletic events, having a normal commencement ceremony, I mean, these are all things that kids look forward to, and they're things that connect them to their school. To be able to start doing these events again, it brightens everybody's outlook,” Smith said. 

Amanda Adams, a parent of a junior at Worthington Kilbourne High School, said proms this year have extra significance because high school students have missed out on so much during COVID-19.

“They have lost a lot over the last couple of years. I think that we will not be able to fully quantify the losses for some time, but without a doubt COVID has taken a toll,” she said. “My junior that just went to prom had an amazing time and got to be a normal teenager. Things felt ‘normal’ for the first time in a long time.”

Imarianah Russell, a senior at Reynoldsburg High School, said she was nervous because she got her dress a bit late. She was focused on basketball recruiting, but in the end, she found a dress and had a great prom with her friends, who were thrilled to be able to celebrate it in person. 

“All the seniors and juniors, we came together, we danced, we hung out, we ate,” she said. “It was a night where you can be a princess and show everybody how beautiful you can be. It was really amazing.”

Hilliard Bradley High School celebrated its prom two weekends ago without COVID-19 restrictions, Principal William Warfied said. 

In 2021, masks were required at the high school's prom, and the event was smaller and shorter. But their grand, traditional prom returned this year at the Columbus Athenaeum.

“This was an opportunity for them to get back to what school was like and what school was supposed to be like for them and to get back to some of the traditions that the classes before them didn't have,” Warfield said. “It was something that they're going to cherish and they’re definitely going to remember.”