For Niki Hetchkop, it paid just to stick around at the Post-Prom party at Thomas Wootton High School. She was one of 300 students gathered in Wootton’s gym at 5 a.m. last Saturday morning, waiting to hear their numbers called in the raffle. Prizes included photo printers, plasma TVs, iPod
Hetchkop was one of the winners of a $50 bill. She went up to claim her prize, and minutes later, emcee Barry Parrow called Hetchkop’s number again. Wootton parent Pat Gaske handed Hetchkop another crisp $50 bill.
Wootton held its prom on at the L’Enfant Galleria in Washington, D.C. on Friday, June 1. Back at the school, students began to arrive just after 1 a.m. for the post-prom.
Even before she’d won a cool $100, Hetchkop was enjoying the post-prom. She liked seeing "everyone being together and having such a great experience at the end," she said. "Everyone’s happy; everyone’s having a good time."
Ross Senter was really enjoying himself. He won eight prizes in the raffle — a plasma TV, an iPod boom box, an alarm clock, a coffee maker and a cheese pizza.
Every student received $25,000 in "Doran Dollars," bearing the face of Michael Doran, Wootton’s principal, legal tender at casino games that included blackjack, roulette and Texas hold ‘em poker. When Christine Wang raised at the poker tables, her classmates called at their own peril — Wang was rarely bluffing, and she quadrupled her stockpile of Doran Dollars before the morning was through.
Elsewhere, students could eat from a buffet that included pizza, sub sandwiches, buffalo wings and countless desserts.
"I liked the variety — you could change from so many different things," said Nadya Serova. She came out ahead at the poker tables, and stayed for the raffle.
Simon Shtipelman’s favorite part of it all? "I was pretty hungry — the food," he said.