We are nearing the end of the school year. This means that most high schoolers are anticipating an event that is considered, by many, as a touchstone in a young person’s life. Those who don’t participate in this event are told that they will forever regret it. The event I am talking about, of course, is Prom. Having a special need doesn’t prevent a high schooler from wanting to attend Prom. Many High Schools, across the country, are recognizing this.
Prom is a very big deal for most high school students. It requires a lot of important decisions to be made. Who will you go to Prom with? What will you wear? The list goes on. Prom is a night where memories will be made, photos will be taken, and fun will be had. Sadly, in the past it wasn’t uncommon for the students who had special needs to be left out of Prom. Things seem to be changing, however.
A high school student at Charles Page High School in Oklahoma named Hailee Cook has been raising money so that the seventeen students in the special needs class at her school can attend Prom this year. Hailee helps out in the special needs classroom at her high school. One of the adults who works with the special needs students will be the chaperon for them at Prom.
Special education teachers in Bartlett, Illinois, came up with the idea to create a Prom that special needs students would be comfortable attending. It is an annual event called “Spring Fling”, and is an alternative to the Proms that are held at the individual high schools in the area.
White Oak school, a school for special needs students in Virginia, will be having the first Prom that this school has ever had. It will be held in the cafeteria of the school itself. It will be a formal Prom, and students will be expected to wear tuxedos and gowns. Transportation will be provided.
Teachers noticed that many of their students have never been to a Prom. They wanted their students to be able to have the same experiences that typical high school students would have, and they want their students to feel good about themselves. The Prom will be open to intellectually disabled young people who attend White Oak school, but also student who have special needs from other high schools, and young adults who have special needs and are age 22 or younger.
Image by plasticstalker on Flickr