You could hardly go anywhere in Atlanta this weekend without running into glamorous teenagers. Prom season is underway. And what used to be a teenage dance has escalated into a mega industry with $1,200 gowns, rented limos, pre-prom photo shoots and expensive Buckhead dinners.

Another new twist on prom: The "promposal" where kids go to elaborate lengths to ask someone to the big night. Suitors fill lockers with flowers, spell out the question on the football field or enlist their dog to deliver a gilded invitation. While the invitee's answer is important, even more critical is whether the promposal strikes Instagram and Snapchat gold.

One Illinois school prefers a simpler system for prom dates: Randomly selected dates. In the 91-year-old tradition, students at the small Catholic high school choose names out of a hat to determine their prom date, turning the event into less of a couples thing and more of a schoolwide celebration.

To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.

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Athletes run drills during the fifth annual Girls Flag Football Showcase hosted by the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, chaired by Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank, announced Wednesday $6.3 million in grants for flag football and other programs at several metro Atlanta school districts. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

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Angie McBrayer, ex-wife of James Aaron McBrayer, leans her head on her son Sam McBrayer as she and her three children and two grandchildren (from left) Jackson McBrayer, 3, Piper Jae McBrayer, 7, Katy Isaza, and Jordan McBrayer, visit the grave of James McBrayer, Thursday, November 20, 2025, in Tifton. He died after being restrained by Tift County sheriff's deputies on April 24, 2019. His ex-wife witnessed the arrest and said she thought the deputies were being rough but did not imagine that McBrayer would die. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC