Students and parents sit around tables in the Commons Area of Parkway North taking part in Trivia Night. As they wait for the answers to be given, a bonus competition is announced, calling for participation for one dollar. All proceeds went to support the Senior Bash.

On Feb. 3, Parkway North High School hosted a Trivia Night to raise funds for Parkway North’s Senior Bash, an annual drug and alcohol-free party held after graduation. Students from all grade levels and parents gathered to compete with one another and support a fun night for the seniors

“My son is a senior, so we were there,” Craig Yeater, father of senior Will Yeater, said.” We love to do trivia nights together with our friends, so we wanted to support and raise money for the senior bash.”

Parents were encouraged to dress like students and students were encouraged to dress like parents. Prizes were given to the best themed/dressed table, the table that won the most rounds, etc.

“I’m really excited actually. I’m not great at trivia, but it’s really fun,” senior Benjamin Valle said. “I play a lot of trivia games with my family, and I always learn a lot of weird random stuff. I think it’s cool.”

Tickets ranged from $20-25 for an individual to join a table to $160-200 for a table of 8, depending on when the tickets were purchased. Snacks and drinks were also sold at trivia night. The trivia night raised $3800 for the Senior Bash.

“As parents, we want to have this event because we know that so often after high school, our children are forced to instantly move on to the adult world and do things like college, trade school or start a full time career,” said Renee Schrader, mother of senior Owen Schrader, and head event planner for the Senior Trivia Night.

Before parents and students could gather around tables to compete in a several-rounds of questions, organizers made many preparations.

“We have 10-15 parents heading up different areas to make the trivia night a success,” Schrader said. “We have parents running the bake sale, asking local businesses for donations, developing the trivia questions, planning the decorations and so on. It takes a small army to put this event on.”

As the night went on, students and parents answered questioned in a series of rounds with eight to ten questions each.

“It was a lot of fun. I liked the questions. They were pretty interesting,” Yeater said. “They were different from ones we’ve had in the past, so we had a good time.”

A student table, table number 3, won $200 with the most rounds with 90 points. They donated their winnings back to the Senior Bash.

“I liked it because I didn’t expect to know that many people that I actually know,” sophomore Maria Jesus Besteiro Gomez said. “I expected to be like, ‘oh parents’, but there were actually people from my grade, so that was nice to be able to say ‘Hi’.”

The 2024 Senior Bash will be held at Maryland Heights Community Center on May 20 from 10:30 p.m. – 4 a.m. The event will include activities such as access to the pool, a DJ, basketball, inflatable obstacle course, jousting and bungee run, a casino room, a hypnotist, an unlimited food buffet, a henna artist, etc.

“This event allows each senior, if only for five hours, to forget about all the stress and worries that may be in front of them. The Bash allows the seniors one more night to be with friends and break from the constraints of worrying what others may think and have just pure fun,” Schrader said.