Ples 2016 - Seniors' Ball!

If you were following our time in Prague last year, you will remember the Seniors' Ball, in Czech called Ples, where we waltzed with our students & enjoyed celebrating their accomplishments & creativity.
This year, Ples was on February 26, and it was a fantastic experience! We were much more relaxed this year since we knew what to expect from the evening (though the waltzing still makes us very nervous!).
There is a tendency to compare Ples to Prom in the US, but really it is quite different. It is a much more organized evening, families and teachers are encouraged to attend, there is no dinner served, and the dancing is much more formal (though just as much fun). The students go to an after party at a club after Ples, and that is probably more similar to our Proms, though with more alcohol.

Here are some pictures to walk you through the fun event:

When you first arrive, you have the schedule for the evening waiting on the table. It's all in Czech (obviously), but this gives an idea of how organized the evening is.

To begin, each 4th year class does a creative walk-in with their class teachers.

Students are then given sash, a different color for each of the 5 different classes.

Group pictures are taken of each class, as well as individual pictures of each student.

Then they walk around with these giant parachutes & people throw money into them! We saved our small Czech coins all year for this event. They make a LOT of money from this, which is then used for a class party at the end of the year.

My student waltz partner, Richard. We were arguably the best dancers.

Jadon with his student dance partner, Viktoria. I love this picture! [Shout out to Tereza Karásková who took all the waltzing pictures for us!]

Then there are a few hours of dancing in this gorgeous building - which is actually underground! We danced to more waltzes, polkas, and everything in between. Such a fun time!

To end the night, each class presents a "midnight surprise" dance. We had everything from Star Wars, to Grease, to the history of dance, to an aerobics class. They are so fun & creative!

Ending the night around 11:30pm. So much fun! Definitely a highlight of both our years here!

The senior students are in school for two more months, and then in May then will take their exams. Please join us in praying for our 4th year students during this stressful time in their school year. We pray that they will be able to study and retain the information, that they can go into their exams calm and prepared, and that they will also have relaxed moments as they finish their time in high school.

Congratulations Maturita Class of '16!