The year just keeps getting betta for RHS upperclassmen.

In true Camelot fashion, Robinson High School brought back the Night of Knights after two years sans-prom by taking the upperclassmen under the sea and into Atlantis.

Well, not actually. But the Florida Aquarium supplied just enough sea life to fit the theme.

A good majority of the event was planned and organized by the incoming Student Government Association (SGA) leadership, Sela Teplin (’23), SGA President, and Sara Gainer (’23), Senior Class President, who rallied students and teachers to a Prom Pep Rally the day before.

“It was my first time talking to different professionals involved with these kinds of dances, like the photo booth guy, and that was super cool to see how all of that planning and communication works,” Teplin said.

SGA’s efforts clearly paid off as the venue received generally good reactions.

“I loved the location because it was nice to be able to walk around and not be stuck in one place. The Aquarium made Prom feel like a Hollywood celebrity party,” Madeline Stimac (’22) noted. Students were greeted with a jellyfish tank as soon as they walked through the ticket check right by the escalator, which would take them to the second floor. There, they had the chance to stick their hands in the tanks (two fingers of course) to touch either starfish or stingray.

Away from prying hands were more sea animals. Tanks lined the walls in a long hallway that led to an even more massive display. Attendees of the dance were able to gaze at sharks, sea turtles and even smaller crustaceans like the crowd-favorite, sexy shrimp. In true Floridian fashion, it was an opportunity for fish enthusiasts to geek out alongside their classmates and dates over the sea creatures.

After gushing over the marine life, one could’ve gone to a Dippin’ Dots stand for a complimentary cup of the ice cream snack. Flavor options varied from cookies and cream to rainbow ice and even brownie batter was available. Students were hooked on the unlimited free ice cream and tended to return for at least two more cups.

Memorabilia of the event could be captured with the prom-classic photo booth. SGA secured a mirror photo booth team to provide attendees an opportunity to capture not-so-candid memories of the night, with pose prompts and a prop table.

“I thought the photo booth was a great addition to the entire experience. I’m really glad they included it because I’ve always seen at other school dances, people do photo booths and leading up to prom I was thinking ‘Woah I hope they have one’ so it was a really nice surprise,” Celeste Lara (’23) said.

But of course, what’s a dance without the actual dancing. Everyone krilled it on the dance floor despite the unpopular DJ.

“The DJ overplayed every single song…30 seconds more than it needed to be played. He just wasn’t the best and the Homecoming DJ was better,” Xavier Difo (’22) commented.

For wallflowers, the night could’ve been spent wandering existentially and observing sexy shrimp; others could’ve (sea)horsed around on the dance floor. Overall, the event reeled in a lot of excited attendees who left the Aquarium mostly satisfied with the night.

Gallery • 14 Photos

Photo Juno Le

Nicolai Merrild ('23) gazes at the sea life that Rachel Murry ('23) is pointing out to him.