As the senior prom came to an end on April 30, many students returned to Wayland High School for an afterparty. The students headed to Late Night, a prom afterparty hosted in the WHS field house by a group of Wayland parents.

Late Night has been a Wayland High School tradition for years, acting as a place for students to continue their prom night safely and responsibly. The event was brought back this year after taking a short break due to COVID, so the co-chairs were excited to reinstate it.

“The last time it was held, the current seniors were freshmen so they really have no idea what Late Night is,” co-chair Sandy O’Driscoll said.

COVID impacted the planning of this year’s Late Night, with the uncertainty of whether or not the event was going to take place.

“Due to COVID, [we were] a little bit late in the planning,” O’Driscoll said. “But people really stepped up and wanted to help. So with everyone’s help, we were able to raise enough money, get a lot of really yummy food donated and secure entertainment. People really wanted this to happen for all of these students.”

In order to make this event something that the students wanted to attend afterwards, the parents implemented many appealing activities for the course of the evening.

“We’ve gotten donations from over 15 different restaurants and a lot of monetary donations,” co-chair Tracey O’Rourke said. “We’ve been able to do some really fun things in the Field House for the kids with photo booths and bouncy houses. We are just making it so the kids want to come.”

According to senior Lucas Pralle, the experience of Late Night was positive overall. Many enjoyed eating the food provided, which included Chick-fil-A, pizza and Siberians from the Wayland Deli.

“The food was prime,” Pralle said. “[My favorite part of Late Night] was the race course bouncy house, for sure.”

Late Night was created to act as an extension of the fun after prom. The students were able to eat the catered food and enjoy the many different activities and games that were set up. The focus of this event was to keep the party going in a safe, controlled environment.

“[The goal was] to make it something that the kids wanted to come to, and try to get parents to not sponsor gatherings at their own house,” O’Rourke said. “[We] try to spread the word that we want this to be the only thing the kids go to after the prom.”

This message was clearly sent, with many students attending and enjoying Late Night.

“I think [many] parents told [their] kids that [the Late Night event] is what [they’re going to go to after prom],” O’Rourke said. “We’ve done an amazing job, our whole team.”