Golden Gala at Aberdeen High School, Harford County

After two years of cancellations, Harford County’s prom season finally came back. Harford County Public Schools kicked off prom season April 8 with Aberdeen High School’s at Water’s Edge in Belcamp.

“Prom was important to me because it was one of the last things I’m going to experience with my senior class,” said Shayla Talley, an Aberdeen High senior. “The last dance of my high school career, and last dance to be around people who you went through high school with, saving and making memories.”

Principals were determined to hold proms this year, said Mike O’Brien, the Harford school system’s executive director of secondary school instruction and performance.

“Plans for prom started in the spring of 2021 for prom in the spring of 2022,” O’Brien said. “We arrived at the current prom plan after the latest wave of COVID began to wane.”

Excitement was high among students for

Aberdeen High’s first prom in three years, Talley said.

“If I missed [prom], I feel like I would be left with a feeling of emptiness because I just missed out on a good time,” she said. “I would have felt left out or behind if I did not go.”

After prom, students gathered to eat and have an after party, including Talley, who said she “had a good time with friends.”