Versailles couple wins nationwide contest from prom wear

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VERSAILLES —Jenna Frantz and Noah Pleiman are elated they won the 16th Annual Duck® brand Stuck at Prom® Scholarship Contest. They just found out this week they were the grand prize winners, but haven’t received any additional information as of this time.

The Versailles students were among the top 10 finalists in the competition, which was decided by a public vote.

“I was not too surprised,” said Frantz. “We knew from the get-go we would probably win. I am definitely delighted.”

She said someone called her to tell her the news but said she and Pleiman haven’t heard anything else as to the score on their outfits or when they will be receiving their scholarships ($10,000 apiece).

“Our prom outfits were more traditional and more like prom wear,” she said. “I called Noah after I got off the phone. We knew all along it would happen. We felt our idea was great. We thank everyone who voted.”

“It felt pretty good,” said Pleiman about their win. “In fact, it was amazing. I feel really blessed right now. I’m on cloud 9.”

He said he learned about their achievement while working as a lifeguard at the Versailles Swimming Pool on Tuesday.

“A voice on the phone said I’d won,” he recalled. “I got on my knees and thanked God. I was really grateful about how it all came to fruition.”

Pleiman is the one who learned about the competition, after having made a shoe out of Duck Tape® in art class last year.

“The shoe was a project for art class and most of the students used masking tape, but I made mine out of Duck Tape® and, here we are now,” he said. “I talked to Jenna, who was going to go with me to the prom and she said ‘It sounds great.’ I give her a lot of credit for wearing the dress itself. It was heavy. We were in our prom wear for quite a while, up and down stairs for the promenade. It looked cool. You couldn’t tell it was Duck Tape®, and that was our goal in the first place.”

He made his own tuxedo and helped Frantz were her dress prior to the contest.

“We were trying to make it look elegant and classy,” he said. “There were a lot of different elements to the dress…the clear back and ruffles on the bottom. “

They started brainstorming in late February/early March and planned for their design.

“We built the whole thing we envisioned we were wearing to the prom,” Frantz said in a previous interview. “We got together and realized that hot colors not used in the past were pink and glitter pink. Our design was very unique. I never saw a mermaid gown quite like that. We were going for creativity and originality. Our color scheme was pink and white, and we used light pink and dark pink with glitter.”

The actual work on the apparel began when they design plans were finalized. In all they used 39 rolls of Duck Tape® in 207 hours. They also received helped from their parents; hers, Don and Sonya Frantz, and his, Mark and Michelle Pleiman.

Pleiman said his parents were “super ecstatic,” about the win.

“It was really neat to tell them and for them to know all our hard work paid off,” the teen said.

Pleiman said he is taking a lot of art classes as a senior at Versailles.

“Here is a huge shout-out to all who voted,” he said. “That’s part of the reason we were able to get first.”

According to Pleiman, the couple will be shipping their outfits to the office handling the competition.

“A lot of them were very unique and some were more reserved and some were more ‘out there’,” he said. “They were very intricate this year…all of them.”

Both he and Frantz have tentative plans for after graduation as to which college they will be attending. The seniors are planning to further their education, Frantz set on getting her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and Pleiman majoring in engineering.

It was reported that $50,000 in cash scholarships to 2016 Stuck at Prom® Scholarship Contest winners, with the winning couple each receiving $10,000. Prizes will also be awarded to second place, third place, seven runners-up and the winning singles entries.

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By Linda Moody

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This writer may be reached at 937-569-4315. Follow her on Facebook and join the conversation and get updates on Facebook by searching Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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