![Reaching out. Christopher Lesh, student at Central Catholic High School, serves ice cream during the event on March 2, 2025, at the Portland waterfront. Central Catholic was just one of the schools that sent student volunteers out to cook, prepare, dish, and serve food. Interact club’s co-president Rachel Gerber, junior, plated the food during the event. “I like how direct the contact is,” Gerber said. “You’re there [and] you’re just doing something good. It’s simple, it’s easy, you can feel good about it.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/interact-1-edited-1200x744.jpg)
*WEB CONTINUATION: This article originally appeared in Volume 105 Issue 4 of our news magazine, Amplifier.
On May 17, students at the school faced the decision of choosing whether to see Kendrick Lamar in Seattle, WA, or dance the night away at prom held at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Lamar’s national tour reached Seattle, with 60,941 tickets sold, breaking his record with the highest-grossing concert by a rapper in history.
Prom, which was hosted by OMSI, now nicknamed Promsi, has been the topic of conversation for weeks, and the overlap between this dance and the concert has caused some conflict for upperclassmen who are also Kendrick Lamar fans.
Going on tour for his album “GNX,” Lamar and SZA kick off with a fresh start after the diss tracks between Lamar and Drake last year. Lamar shifted the focus of his music with the release of GNX, his first new album since “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” in 2022. According to Billboard, a company that tracks trending music, Lamar’s popular tracks like “luther,” “peekaboo,” and “squabble up” have become top hits nationally.
The Grand National Tour kicked off on April 19 at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN, with packed shows that featured guest performances. SZA, continuing her success with her 2022 album “SOS,” joins Lamar on the tour, bringing different styles of music.
Some students decided to see Lamar perform. Audrey Tiffany, senior, chose to attend the concert over her senior prom.
“I went to prom last year for junior year, and I just felt like in the end, it would have a lot better memories,” Tiffany said.
Videos from earlier shows on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have been flooded with reactions from fans. His performances are known for their opening tracks and features, and his most famous songs have gone viral on social media.
“There [were] so many people, it was so loud the floor I was on was shaking,” Tiffany said.
While Tiffany and Kemp attended the concert in Seattle, their peers also shook the floor at OMSI. Prom featured another dance from the May Court, a chocolate fountain, and a second performance of U2’s “With or Without You” from Pedro Garcia, senior.
