NEWARK — Licking Valley High School students are planning their own prom at the same time as the school’s official event Saturday.

“It’s much more than just us getting to dance,” said Jeremiah Schindler, one of the students organizing the event. “This is our way to stand up and be listened to.”

The students’ drive to stage their own prom is a result of restrictions placed on them by school officials at the annual dance.

Officials have warned against provocative, sexually suggestive dancing termed “grinding” and said it would not be allowed at this year’s prom at Licking Valley High School.

The alternative prom will occur at about the same time Saturday — 8 to 11 p.m. — at the Crystal Ballroom in Newark, Schindler said.

The dance will have a rain forest theme, with the title “Get Over It and Get Wild.”

The alternative dance is expected to have 15 chaperones, as well as a law enforcement officer, Schindler said.

Tickets have been on sale for two weeks, and 90 have been sold. T-shirts also are being sold to raise money.

Rumors of a second prom began surfacing after school officials reiterated to students their stance against grinding.

Previously, administrators have explained the type of dancing that is prohibited, have asked students to stop dancing and have instituted more chaperones and a “penalty box.”

For their part, school officials are pressing ahead with their annual prom. Licking Valley administrators said they are focused on making the school-staged prom a good time for students, despite the alternative dance planned for the same night.

“I really don’t have a reaction to that,” Principal Wes Weaver said of the other dance. “We’re spending our time focusing on what we can do to make it fun for students who come to our prom.”

This year, Weaver and Assistant Principal Shane Adkins met with junior and senior class officers to discuss solutions, some of which include not playing music that lends itself to suggestive dancing.

Weaver sent a letter to parents earlier this month to inform them of the possibility of an alternative dance some students were organizing.

Last week, some students hosted dancing lessons for specific, appropriate types of dancing, Weaver said, and the school has agreed to announce the prom court before the event.

Also last week, Weaver said some students were passing out fliers advertising an “after-prom special” at Braison’s Hookah Lounge in Newark.

“We caught wind of it, talked to them and told them they couldn’t do that,” he said.

Seth Roy can be reached at (740) 328-8547 or sroy@newarkadvocate.com.

Valley students to stage competing prom