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Schools

Volunteers Essential To Prom's Success

Parents and community volunteers are the backbone of the Pennsbury High School Senior Prom—each night from January to May, they volunteer their time to create the prom's backdrop of murals.

Pennsbury High School's legendary Senior Prom 2011, The Bucket List, is only weeks away.

On May 14, students will travel in floats, funny cars, golf carts, maybe even a hot air balloon as they participate in the prom parade that leads up to the actual prom. Once they enter the prom, held at PHS East, they'll be transported into a fantastic dream-like atmosphere of amazing sites and thrilling adventures from around the world.

This year's prom theme, The Bucket List, involves murals depicting the Grand Canyon, New Year's Eve at Times Square, Mardi Gras and many others. The lobby will focus on an African Safari theme.

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The parents and community volunteers have been meeting each night since early January to prepare murals that will cover the walls throughout most of the school. First, everyone discusses ideas at brainstorming sessions. After weeding out ideas, various groups find images, create transparencies, and then project the images onto heavy-duty paper, eight and one-half feet high. The mural workers pencil in the images and then paint them. Volunteers don't need to be artists, they just need to be willing to pitch in and help out. Some volunteers don't have a student at the high school.

Chris and Hank Coleman are the husband and wife team that chair this year's parents' hallway committee. The Colemans are a remarkable team that has worked together as parent hallway chairs for the past five years, starting in 2007 when their son, Hunter, was a senior.

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"Chris Coleman is extremely supportive and helpful, not to mention artistically gifted," said Liz Fields, mother of PHS senior, Katie. "She and her husband find jobs for everyone, even those of us who aren't so artistic -- everyone is able to contribute to the cause."

As a "prom parent" myself, and the mother of PHS senior, Carolyn, I have witnessed the Colemans at work. Hank, patiently working on the senior name hallway with his volunteer group, and Chris leading the hallway mural committee from the conceptual stage on through to the painting stage, and then hanging the finished murals on the walls around the school before the event.

"One of my favorite parts of the process is brainstorming about ideas since each year is a different theme," said Chris Coleman. "I also enjoy painting very much. I love covering these huge rolls of white paper with different scenes and I really like adding the details."

The prom this year is a family affair for the Colemans, parents of three children. Their youngest daughter, Brenna, a senior, is a student prom chair. This year there are 31 prom chairs to help with the huge task of painting murals and creating three-dimensional props. The students began drawing and painting in March and will continue each evening until prom.

Sue Busch, mother of senior, Hayley, is working on her second prom. Two years ago she worked on her first for her older daughter, Erin. The 2009 theme was A Novel Night, and Sue enjoyed painting a mural of Edgar Allen Poe (horror genre) and some of the classics, such as Oliver Twist, The Hobbit, and Moby Dick. She also drew up the three dragons from the Eragon series, which now reside on her daughter Kelsey's bedroom ceiling.

Busch enjoys being a part of such an ambitious project. As a fine artist, she works on murals that require a great deal of free-hand drawing, such as the Grand Canyon mural she's working on now. As her assistant, I simply follow instructions. Luckily, she has devised a paint-by-number scheme that has worked out beautifully. She paints the more complex areas, and I stick to the simpler ones.

Denise Deon, parent of senior Sarah, her youngest daughter, is no stranger to prom committee herself. She worked on the cafeteria murals for the 2007 prom for her oldest daughter when the theme was Summer Nights Under Boardwalk Lights. Think tunnel of love, boardwalk carnival games, and a 3D sand castle. Deon enjoys watching the murals come to life each week.

"It takes a lot of work to transform the school into a fantasy world," Deon said. "I come here whenever I can which is about a night or two a week. But every little bit helps. It's a lot of fun."

"Since prom is quickly approaching, I hope others come out to help since there is still so much to do," adds Fields. "I've enjoyed meeting new people and catching up with old friends. And I find it quite relaxing to just sit and paint for a few hours."

Anyone in the community is welcomed to help with prom preparations. You don't need to have a PHS senior. Come to PHS East at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, located at 705 Hood Blvd., in Fairless Hills.

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