OCEAN CITY — Families’ social media feeds were filled over the weekend with pictures of beautifully dressed young people preparing for the prom at the Ocean City Music Pier.
Over the past few months as the Ocean City High School juniors and seniors were picking out their gowns, tuxedoes and flowers, there was extensive work behind the scenes for the class advisers who have shepherded their charges throughout their high school experience.
The 2025 prom marked the end of an era. It was the last time three of those class advisers were working together as a team.
Keith Zammit, Aaron Wohlrab and Jennifer Dean have been the guiding force behind the prom for years, but Zammit is retiring at the end of the school year.
Joseph Heng made it a point to get recognition for this trio as he helped arrange this prom as part of his duties as junior class president.
Dean, who was at the Music Pier on the stormy Friday afternoon as crews transformed the place for its “A Night in Greece” theme, said the timing is bittersweet.
“The three of us have been doing it for over 10 years,” Dean said.
The three advisers are all chemistry teachers, she noted, “and we just click. It’s so sad to see Keith go because he’s just a real big part of this. He’s a big part of the school district,” working not just with the district staff but city workers as well.
She plans to be back again next year with Wohlrab because they want to see this junior class through its senior year.
However, she believes it’s time for others to start getting involved and providing a fresh perspective.
“Both of us are staying for the seniors and then we’re letting the younger teachers take over,” Dean said.
“I love all of this because this is like full circle,” she said of advising the class and then seeing them at the prom.
“You see the kids in class, you see the kids in the hallway, and then you see them dress up and see them grow. That’s just what I love.
“We start with them as freshmen and go with them the entire time.”
It was the second year in a row the prom was at the Music Pier.
“We want to keep the kids in town,” she said. “The city is absolutely wonderful to us and helps in every aspect. We had a professional decorator come in, so it looks like we’re actually in Greece.”
Dean credited all of the people in the district and city who help get the prom together. She also credited Heng for his role.
She explained the junior class puts on the junior-senior prom and comes up with the themes. The advisers help guide the students as they work to get business support and understand how to live within their budget.
“We’re teaching them to be leaders, not for us to sit there and do everything for them,” she said.
“What a leader he’s become,” Dean said of Heng, who did much of the legwork for the prom.
“I like to say I do everything because I dip my toes into everything,” he said. “I’ve had meetings with the police drawing out diagrams where they need to be, where teachers need to be stationed. I go to meetings with the decorators.
“Everything that’s going to be here at the prom, I had something to do with,” he said Friday. That includes the catering, the color of linens on the tables, the desserts and decorations and making sure transportation is arranged back to the high school for the after-prom.
And, yes, he also made time to arrange for a date.
For his “promposal,” Heng was on a pre-arranged tour at the fire station with his girlfriend, fellow junior Addisyn Fisher. He had an announcement come over the P.A. system, “Emergency, emergency. We have an emergency. Addisyn Fisher is needed. Joseph Heng’s heart is on fire.” Heng brought out a poster and asked her to the prom.
“It was a really cool experience. She was really surprised and she said yes,” Heng said. Fisher also helped with prom preparations.
The junior class president said he didn’t mind putting the success or failure of the prom on his shoulders because he put it another way.
“I do success or success,” he said, smiling. “I can’t imagine this thing going wrong. It looks like it’s going to be beautiful here.”
Once the prom was under way, it would be time for him to just enjoy the evening with his prom date.
“Everyone’s ready to do their duties. I won’t have to do any work any more,” he said.
That may be true of the prom, but expect to hear more about Heng in the future. He said he will be running for office to lead his class again and he has a lot of plans in store for the coming year.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
At top, Junior Class President Joseph Heng with Junior Class Adviser Jennifer Dean prepared for last weekend’s prom at the Ocean City Music Pier.
