Toll Gate High School held its Senior Prom this past Friday night at Rhode on the Pawtuxet, but there was no King or Queen.

Prom is a time-honored high school tradition. It signifies the end of the school year, as seniors prepare for graduation. It’s an emotional time, saying goodbye to friends, making new friends at college, moving to new places, and making memories.

Students arrived at Rhodes about 6 p.m. with either their friends or their date, some dates even opened the car door for their date…chivalry has not died nor has royalty, as it turned out.   Students entered a receiving line. Everyone was beaming. This was a big event. After finding their table, students were served a pasta and chicken tender dinner. Following dinner, the dance floor was open for everyone to let loose.

After a couple of hours of dancing and boisterous music, the seniors gathered around the middle of the dance floor where Assistant Principal, Todd Grimes announced each prom royal. With each name cheers erupted. Those named were surprised and excited.

Out of 249 students in the graduating class,  Jordan Brazeau, Madison Hathaway, Francesca Beagan, Jessica Sheridan, Jeremie Luna, Jayden Pina, Daniel Kennedy, Olivia Engelhardt, Adeline Areson, and Cooper Grossguth stepped forward to receive the distinction of as Prom Royalty and receive a sash from 2024 Class Advisor Stephanie Catanzaro and Assistant Principal Brad Martin.

Dancing resumed as the royals joined the crowd.

The royals were selected by the school faculty who were given a Google Form on Thursday morning with a list of all the seniors. They chose ten students out of 249 they thought deserving of the honor. The results of the voting were not disclosed until it was announced at the prom.

Each of the ten seniors has a unique plan for after high school, whether to go to a school out of state to study nursing or play junior hockey.

In the fall, Adeline Areson will be going to the University of Connecticut to study nursing and will also join the Army ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). The Army ROTC is one of the top leadership courses in the country. Upon graduation from Army ROTC, graduates earn the bar of Second Lieutenant and will be commissioned into the active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. Areson decided to join the UCONN ROTC because “I think that it is a good fit for me, and I am excited to be a part of something other than a team.”

When asked if prom would follow her beyond high school, Areson said Prom Royalty would follow her to college. She takes pride in receiving the honor and will always remember the moment, saying “My classmates know that I have a lot of pride and care about my community.”

Another royal, Cooper Grossguth will travel to Walpole, Mass., where he will play junior hockey with the Express Hockey Club. Grossguth decided to join the Express Hockey Club to continue his hockey career when they gave him the opportunity. “I knew the coach from the past year and practiced with them a few times.”

He feels that the team is close-knit saying, “The guys on the team were very welcoming and made me feel a part of the team.”

When asked if prom will follow him beyond high school, Grossgut said that he didn’t think it would follow but said “I think it’s something cool to look back on and see that the teachers and faculty I saw every day saw something in me.”

However, Cooper said it is honor to have been selected. “It’s a very cool thing to me knowing that my teachers picked me out of the other 249 students in my class.”

Toll Gate’s graduation will be on June 12 at 12 p.m. at the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island.