By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

Marking one of Emery County’s marquee events, preparations are underway for the 2026 rendition of Emery High’s promenade themed ‘Under the Sea’.

To discuss the prom planning process from inception to construction, the KOAL newsroom was joined by Zoee Perea, Audrey Livingston, Morgan Mills and Devon Farley for an insider’s perspective.

Opening the discussion, Audrey Livingston shared how the planning committee decided on the theme,” We decided on a whole lot of themes, and we were so conflicted. We were all yelling at each other, and it just came to ‘Under the Sea’. We were talking about what decorations we were going to be for it, and it just clicked, and we’re like, ‘OK, ‘Under the Sea’, this is what it’s going to be.”

Continuing on the theme of decorations, Perea shared,” Our decorations are all ocean-themed. It’s not going to look too tacky; it’s going to look very elegant, lots of blues and whites for the waves. We’re going to have a big ship that is going to be the part that we walk out of, and so overall, it’s just going to look really good.”

Farley then took the mic, sharing the male perspective on the process,” I’ve thrown out ideas, and there are a couple of other boys with me, but we just kind of throw out ideas, but I feel like it’s ultimately the girl’s choice.”

Along with event planning, there are bound to be hurdles. Mills spoke to some of the unique challenges the committee has faced,” Some of our hardest challenges have been trying to make this prom the best experience for everyone in our junior class, making sure that they like the theme and that they feel confident. And we want to make sure that all the decorations, the music, and everything make everyone feel like this is their prom year. This is making them feel good about their prom experience.”

Perea added,” It’s super stressful. You hear a lot of complaints about it, but you know, you kind of just have to ignore them and really show them how well it’s actually going to look, and all the juniors are going to hate the theme at first, but then all the seniors are going to end up really jealous of it. But we’re going to leave a good impression this year.

Closing out our conversation, each student shared an individual message, beginning with Mills, who stated,” I’d just like to leave you guys with, come to our promenade. It’s going to be an amazing experience, and you’ll get to witness all our hard work and our decorations.”

Livingston added,” I think if you go out with a positive attitude, it is going to be positive, so make sure that you’re just going to have as much fun as you can, because this is going to be the last time all of us juniors are going to be together.”

And Perea closed,” I think that this is going to be really fun, because as you said, it’s going to be the last time we’re all in a room, but I think we’re really going to show up this year.”

Emery High’s Promenade ‘Under the Sea’ takes place on Friday, Feb. 27, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Spartan Center. The promenade portion of the dance is free to watch, but donations are accepted.