It started with a female student who had a tough choice to make. She could only afford either her senior prom ticket, or dress, but not both.
After hearing the girl’s problem, Guidance counselor Erin Isaacs teamed up with ESE teacher Becky Poffenberger to accommodate students who would have trouble affording a prom dress by initiating the first annual prom dress drive.
“So far we have received between 60 and 70 dresses for students to choose from,” Isaacs said. “Teachers have contributed to the drive too; a lot of them posted on social media about the drive and received a lot of support.” English teacher Heather Ambrosi donated a total of 20 dresses to the cause after posting about the drive on Facebook.
For most students, a prom dress worn a year ago is unusable, and sits in their closet collecting dust.
“We have received so much positive feedback from students donating their dresses, they think it’s an awesome idea and a great way for their dress to be reused,” Isaacs said.
The biggest problem faced by the dress drive is student fear of being made fun of for wearing a second hand dress. To keep student identity confidential, students who are interested in borrowing a dress for prom can go to upper house guidance and will receive further instructions from Isaacs as to how they can pick out a dress.
“At first some of the students who came to the dress drive were hesitant to wear a dress that had already been worn, but we steam clean all the dresses so they are ready to be worn at the store,” Isaacs said.
Isaacs, Poffenberger and other teachers are also starting a fund to help boys rent tuxes, and band is donating old dress shirts to be worn under the tux jackets.
The store is currently accepting any prom dresses and accessories, including shoes and jewelry.
“We ask for the dresses to be returned after prom is over because we want to do the same thing next year,” Isaacs said. “We want to start the donation period much earlier too, with the goal being a huge selection of prom attire for students to choose from by next year’s prom.”