A Prom Crafted from Dreams

The Boston Herald

The video tells the story, some of it, anyway. Proms are always magical. Function halls are transformed by balloons and soft lights into ballrooms and kids are transformed, too, by hopes and by dreams. Every girl is a princess on prom night. And every boy is Brad Pitt.

The video captures this - girls with their hair curled, pretty in pastels; boys with their hair combed, handsome in tuxedoes. The music, the smiles, the laughter, the dancing, all of it is on film.

“People were grinning from ear to ear all night to the point where our cheeks were sore,'' said Sara Martin, a teacher.  “It was May 13th - Friday the 13th, but the prom went off without a hitch. This was the students' prom,'' Martin said. ``They chose the theme. They chose the music. They chose the decorations. They picked out the food. They made the invitations. And the weather was perfect. That night they didn't feel disabled.’'

Martin teaches at the Life Roles Transition Center at North Attleboro High School. It's part of the Bi-County Collaborative. Her students range in age from 16 to 22 and are cognitively and physically challenged. Some are in wheelchairs. Most had never been to a prom. It was the same for students in three other classes like Martin's. So they joined together and started making plans.

For the young people to get a sense of the grandness of this rite of passage, Martin showed them some movies about proms. Then they picked a date and a place - The First United Methodist Church, which donated the hall. Then they formed committees.

Committees chose the theme: ``A Night in New York.'' And the food. ``One of the boys really wanted meatballs with toothpicks and the caterer didn't provide them. So someone else offered to make them.'' They chose the decorations, the invitations and the music. ``The music choice was tough. They all wanted different songs.'' (DJs ``Barbara and Phil'' donated their services.)

Then in the middle of all this, a fairy godmother appeared, bringing to the classroom “gently worn prom gowns,'' shoes and jewelry for the girls to choose from and keep. The Fairy Godmother Project, headquartered in Raynham, does this all over the state.

Robert's Tuxedoes outfitted the guys. Patricia Fales took photos for free, and Laura Lee Labonte, a dance instructor, came to the classroom weeks before the prom to practice with the kids, then again the night of the prom to help get them get started. And 15 teachers chaperoned on their own time.

Martin said, ``In the yearbook, seniors get to circle all the things they participated in. Now these students can circle Special Olympics and prom committee, too.’’

At the end of the night, parents arriving to bring their children home were asked to join them in a big circle on the dance floor.

“By then the kids were already talking about next year,'' Martin said. ``One boy had already picked the date.

“There were definitely some tears that night, watching the kids all dressed up and so proud of themselves. They did it all. And they were so happy. Maybe next year we can get some limos to donate.''