Temples of doom, holy grails, and treasures from eras past are the setting for this year’s Indiana Jones-themed prom, “The Lost Artifact Ball.”
The dance, organized and hosted by the Class of 2026, will take place from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. May 17 at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
According to Andrew Villalobos (’26), junior class vice president, the Indiana Jones theme was inspired by the venue, the Bowers Museum. The Spanish Mission-style museum houses the sorts of history and relics Dr. Jones himself would covet — galleries of gemstone carvings; ceramics of western Mexico; ancient art of China; and cultural spirit masks of the Pacific Islands.
In addition to a DJ, a gelato truck, chocolate fondue station, caricature artists, casino table (a nod to the opening scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), and photobooth, the dance will feature a live swing band.
The band, keeping with the adventure film series’ 1940s setting, is a throwback to last year’s prom which also featured live music. The sounds of a bluesy trumpet, saxophone, and keyboard were successful enough that dance organizers chose to host another live band. “When they brought out the swing band last year, everyone loved it,” Villalobos said.
New to the prom experience is a dedicated website — Prom 2025: The Lost Artifact Ball — created by Abraham Baltodano (’26), junior class president.
“I wanted prom to have a different aspect — something unique that other years haven’t implemented yet,” Baltodano said. “So, I decided to use my skills in coding to create a website this year.”
The dance will also feature the traditional crowning of prom king and queen. This year’s prom court includes senior boys Alex Poitras, Sugan Ganesh, David Baker, Nikolaus Yamamoto, and Chan Hwang, and senior girls Jonai Keys, Sasha Griesner, Christina Pai, Danica Coburn, and Samie Reutter.
Christina Pai (‘25) expressed gratitude for her nomination: “I’m really thankful to be a part of the prom court, and it means a lot to me that my classmates decided to vote for me,” Pai said. “It’s also a time for me to appreciate the people that helped me through high school: my teachers and friends.”
For some, being on court means more than just a title — it means commemorating a friendship.
“I feel great, not only about the fact that I got this title, but that I get to share it with Sugan, one of my great friends,” Poitras said.
Sugan Ganesh (‘25) is looking forward to sharing the prom court experience with his friend, Poitras. “Me and Alex have been very close friends since elementary school, from the days on the playground to now the mosh pit at prom,” Ganesh said. “It means the world to me to be sharing my final high school memory with him by my side.”
Prom courts, exchanging corsages and boutonnieres, live music, and group photos are prom staples dating to BOHS’s opening in 1927, but a more modern twist on the annual tradition are “promposals.”
What was once just a straight-forward, “Would you like to go to prom with me?” has evolved into more creative, personalized proposals.
This year’s promposals have ranged from posters (“I’d be ‘enchanted’ if you went to prom with me,” read one, accompanied by coffee from the Brea cafe); inside jokes (Poitras’s promposal to senior Claire Kim involved a dog-related TikTok meme); and even entire sports teams.
At the final BOHS baseball game of the season May 7, Jake Owens (‘25), varsity baseball player, coordinated a promposal where each member of the team handed Mia Sandoval (‘26) a rose until she’d gathered enough for a whole bouquet. At the end of the line, Owens awaited with a sign that read, “My shoulder won’t be the only thing hurting if you don’t go to prom with me,” a reference to a recent injury.
Of the elaborate surprise, Sandoval (‘26) said, “My favorite part was walking onto the field knowing that this was all happening, and seeing Jake standing there with a big smile on his face.”
From promposals posted to Instagram to dancing to a swing band amidst the treasures of the Bowers Museum, “The Lost Artifact Ball” will merge the present with the past for a night to remember.
