Prom night!! by Joie Goodnoe
I joined one of One Stone’s Project Good teams working with high school students with exceptionalities. We’ve done extensive empathy work with caretakers and parents of kids with special needs. We also want to help students make their high school experience feel normal and fun. The biggest idea our project good team had was to create a prom!
We realized that an organization already sets up prom nights every year around the world called Night To Shine. These nights cater to kids with special needs, and was also a night where parents and caretakers can either party with their students or have a night of relaxation. It really felt like high school prom. We were all paired up with a buddy we could boogie with all night long! I was assigned to be floater which meant I didn’t have a specific role and I didn't have a buddy. While I was floating, I saw a kid I used to work with at my old high school. I was shocked and so incredibly happy to see Demi! At my old school I had made an amazing connection with him and he is the reason I’m passionate about working with kids who have exceptionalities. I ended up being his buddy for the night.
We spent most of our time in the sensory rooms because he was sensitive to bright lights, crowds, and loud noises. Sensory rooms are rooms where people can take a breather and just chill. In the sensory room they had things to draw on, build, and also had headphones if it was too loud for them. For the guests at Night To Shine, they had photo booths, red carpets, limo rides, food, and karaoke. After all the guests and volunteers had done all the activities, everyone rushed to the dance floor. The night ended with a bang and everyone was crowned prom king and queen!
The next event our group is attending is STEAM night. This stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. This event will be set in stations where kids with special needs can go around and do what they find interesting. My Project Good team will be there to help out and interact with the students. Our goal is to make them feel comfortable and open to learning about STEAM. We also want to get more insight on how their high school experience is going and what they want to change about it. We’re also hoping to just make some great connects and some new life long friends!
