The Real Stars of the Show: The Moms Behind the Jenks Pom Fashion Show

By: Halle Hess

Seniors Nina Vance, Olivia Eng, and Lilly Stevenson posing during the show. Photo credit: Box Photography

A maroon curtain conceals the organized chaos going on backstage. People are running from room to room, gathering groups and getting everyone in order. There’s trails of glitter and sparkles left on the floor and everywhere you look you see a different colored dress.

This organized chaos is the Jenks Pom Fashion Show, an annual event put on by the Jenks Pom seniors. On Tuesday, September 9th, the Pom Fashion Show took place in the Jenks High School Performing Arts Center. This fashion show is the largest fundraiser for the Jenks Pom program, helping fund competition fees, scholarships, uniforms, and travel expenses for their national’s competition.

But what all goes on behind the scenes? Months of planning are put into making this event a success, and a fun kickoff to senior year. Teylor Wettstein and Kate Howell both have daughters on pom and were the chairs for this year's fashion show. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, they were able to make this year's event a success.

According to Teylor Wettstein, fashion show chair, planning for this event is a yearlong process.

“We start pretty much immediately after the previous year's fashion show is over. It can take a while to coordinate things with the pom seniors, corporate sponsors, dress stores, and senior models”, said Wettstein.

Teylor Wettstein (chair) and Finley Wettstein (11) on stage before the start of the show. Photo credit: Box Photography 

As chairs, the main priority is to plan a show that will allow the seniors involved to have fun, while also raising as much money as they can. 

“The senior pom girls play a big part in helping choose the theme, recruiting models, and also planning a show that the rest of the senior class will enjoy”, said Howell.

Kate Howell (co-chair) and daughter Sadie Howell (10) backstage at the show. Photo credit: Box Photography

The beginning of the planning process starts by focusing on the big picture stuff such as choosing a theme, contacting stores, scheduling a date, booking both rehearsal and event space, as well as getting in touch with corporate sponsors. 

“It’s often hard to get in touch with stores and there’s even been situations where stores have backed out midway through the planning process, so it’s important that we figure those out towards the beginning of planning”, said Wettstein.

Once all the big picture stuff is planned out, it’s easier to start looking into the finer details as the fashion show date approaches. Lots of work is done over the summer such as contacting models and scheduling fitting times, figuring out when each pom team will perform during the show, and designing the backdrops for the segments.

Each Mom on the committee has a specific job, and it is important that each job is completed to allow for a smooth-running show. There are moms in charge of tasks such as stage design, publicity, booths, fittings, programs, promo pictures, the news segment, and the list goes on and on.

Moms on the fashion show committee. Photo credits: Box Photography 

Alongside the actual fashion show planning, lots of work is done to raise the money needed to fund the many expenses that come along with the sport.

“The majority of our income comes from selling corporate sponsorships, tickets to the event, and model sign-ups”, said Wettstein.

All this preparation leads up to the big day. The day of the fashion show there are parent volunteers running around backstage and checking in on groups. There’s typically a mom or dad assigned to each room to keep people in check and make sure they make it backstage in time for their segments.

“As co-chair my day of fashion show jobs include picking up senior bouquets, giving gifts to the vendors, helping set up, and being an extra helping hand for anyone in need throughout the evening”, said Howell.

Seniors Margaret Zimmerman and Carson Mariska on stage at the show. Photo credit: Box Photography

Thanks to the hard work of these parents, this year’s event was a big success. Over 780 tickets were sold, and they were able to raise more money this year than in years past. By raising this money, the pom program is prepared to fund another successful competition season. To learn more about the Jenks Pom program you can visit their website, JenksPom.com, or Instagram @JenksPom.