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Utah high schooler creates prom website for dates, deals

Posted at 12:08 PM, Apr 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-13 16:10:21-04

AMERICAN FORK, Utah — Students at American Fork High School have a new resource to make prom night more affordable and the process of finding a date, a little less awkward, and it’s all thanks to one of their peers.

Between the elaborate ‘promposals,’ and the pressure of having the perfect dress, hair and makeup (do we even need to mention dinner and after prom?) prom season can serve as a pricey stresser for high schoolers.

This year, students at American Fork High School have a new resource to help alleviate some of the pressure, helping them find deals and a date.

It’s a website called, beenasked.com.

“Will beenasked make my life magical? Yes, yes it will,” laughed Hannah Rogers, the website creator and American Fork High School senior.

“It’s not a dating app, but it’s trying to help students meet other students to go on dates with,” Rogers said.

Rogers came up with the idea last fall. She was enrolled in an entrepreneurship class and tasked with finding a solution to a real-life problem; the assignment just so happened to be given during homecoming.

“Everyone in the hallways was talking about who had been asked, who hadn’t been asked and it was really chaotic,” said Rogers. “So I came up with the idea of creating a website where you could see everyone’s names, who had and hadn’t been asked to a dance, so you didn’t accidentally ask someone that’s already been asked and get yourself out of that awkward situation.”

Rogers conducted some of her own research, she said nearly half of the AFHS students she surveyed weren’t attending school dances.

“High school dances seem like a really big deal around here, but we actually don’t have that many kids going to them,” Rogers said.

“It’s too expensive, kids just can’t afford it, and they don’t know who to ask,” she explained.

From there, Rogers said the idea grew, “it’s kind of just turned into a one-stop-shop that you would need for a dance.”

The site has three main features; a list of students who either have or still need a date, discounts, and a gallery of pictures which feature different ‘promposals’ to help inspire fellow students with ideas of how to creatively ask someone to prom.

The main component, the list, is comprised of American Fork High School students who opted in by answering questions on a survey. The survey asks for an email address, their school (it is only available to AFHS right now), what grade they are in, their first and last name and finally, permission for beenasked to display their name on the website.

“This is our list, everyone whose name is in gold has a date to prom, and anyone whose name is in black still hasn’t asked anyone or hasn’t been asked,” Rogers said as she scrolled through the hundred or so students who have submitted their names.

Students can also find discounts from local businesses to help lower the cost of their prom experience.

“We have attire, day dates, dinner, transportation and after party,” Rogers said as she scrolled through a list of coupons.

“That’s really the whole point, to support our local businesses and support our students. It’s really a win-win for everyone,” said Rogers.

Hannah plans to attend BYU in the fall but doesn’t intend on leaving beenasked in high school. She hopes to expand to all of the schools in Alpine School District by next school year and to even more schools and districts in the years to come.