Special Education students attend Prom
Dance held for nearby districts
May 21, 2014
A flurry of music, flowers and nail polish filtered through the C1 hallway as excitement mounted for special education students preparing for their Prom.
In preparation for the dance, the girls chose dresses from the selection of donated dresses in community service teacher Sophia Ross’s classroom. Two students volunteered to help do their hair, Special Education teacher Deb Porter said. The students did their nails, and made their own boutonnieres and corsages the day before their Prom.
Porter said these preparations helped create enthusiasm for the event.
“Just the excitement of planning was great,” she said. “We had music going and people stopping saying have a good time. There was so much excitement, so much energy before and on the bus home there wasn’t a peep because they were so exhausted.”
Wayzata schools hosted the event for school districts in the Western suburbs, according to Porter. The dance took place during the school day May 2 in the Medina Ballroom.
Park students used to attend such events frequently, but hadn’t had the opportunity recently until receiving an invitation to this Prom. Knowing the events were fun in the past, Porter said they agreed to go.
Once they arrived, there was dancing, food and cake. Porter said one highlight was the random selection of Park senior Angel Catlett as Prom queen and a student from another school as king.
Special Education teacher Christine Tvrdik said the dance made for an enjoyable day.
“They loved it,” Tvrdik said. “They danced for about three hours straight, had a lot of fun and made friends from other schools.”
Having become involved again in the dances, Porter said she expects to participate again in the future because of the opportunities it provides to the students.
“We’ll definitely do it again next year because they’re able to participate in regular activities students have but because they normally happen on weekends sometimes they don’t have transportation, and some need more supervision,” Porter said. “We can take care of any needs they have and it makes it really enjoyable.”
