East Texas Special Needs Prom gives all teens a chance to dance

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Everyone deserves a chance to dance. That’s why the East Texas Special Needs prom means so much to Kathy Musick.

East Texas high school students who have disabilities got to do just that Friday during the annual event at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center in Longview. Students donned their flashiest garb and busted a few moves on the dance floor for much of the day starting at 10 a.m.

“This is an opportunity for our office to give back to our students — not just that we serve, but in all of East Texas, to come and have an experience that perhaps they might not get to have otherwise,” said Musick, student services coordinator for the special education office in Upshur County.

Students with disabilities might not be able to participate in their schools’ individual proms for various reasons. But for about 25 years, the special needs prom has helped fill that void for students from 40 East Texas schools.

“Students with disabilities, they strive for a level of independence,” Musick said. “They want to be like their [general education] peers, and this is one of the events that they can come, and they can show their independence out on the dance floor over here. All we’re doing is basically monitoring and getting to be a part of their experience today.”

At least 700 prom-goers, student volunteers, visitors and school employees were at the event, Musick said. There’s no cost to the students, as the event is funded by private donors and staffed by special education professionals who can care for students’ needs. Rooms are available if students need to change clothes, and a sensory room gives students a place to calm down if the music gets a little too loud for them.

“We’re equipped to handle anything,” Musick said. “I think the parents appreciate that.”

Musick and other event staff wore tie-die hippie-themed shirts throughout the event, making them easy to spot. As prom-goers disembarked school buses, student volunteers — members of various student councils, academic honor societies and a Reserve Officer Training Corps program — cheered, clapped and high-fived them.

The students’ sheer joy is visible on the dance floor, where student volunteers mix and mingle with students who have special needs, Musick said.

“It’s just like a big mosh pit of everybody just dancing, and you don’t know who’s [general education], who’s a student with disabilities — they don’t care,” Musick said. “They’re just all having fun, and that’s what it’s about.”

Baylee Bonds, a National Honor Society member and senior at Kilgore High School, moved to the music with her dance partner, Keleen Williams. Bonds said she loves helping out during the event, and she loves all the students there.

“Keleen is amazing,” she said. “He does dance classes, and I finally got the chance to dance with him.”

“I love dancing,” Williams said.

Lt. Ryan Rockett with the Longview Police Department joined in on the fun, spending time talking with dancers. His wife helps during the event.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “You come in and see all these kids having the time of their life, and they’re in positions where they may not be able to enjoy a regular prom. But this is completely catered to them.

“There’s not a face without a smile on it. The happiest group of people you’ll ever meet. There’s pure joy here.”

Pine Tree High School junior Tianah Harper wore a red dress as she swayed to the sounds sifting through the speakers. She was surrounded by a group of peers.

“I’m having fun,” she said.

Union Grove High School student April Hooks attended the prom last year. This year, she donned a yellow skirt and white blouse as she danced the day away.

“I get to dance my tail off and not have to worry about any classes,” she said. “You can have fun dancing with whoever you want to.”

She thanked, and congratulated, the event’s coordinators.

“[They] really did a great job,” she said. “I look forward to it.”

While the action was on the dance floor, the party started in the front driveway when students climbed out of their school buses. Russell Thomas, career and technical education program director at Gilmer ISD, held their hands as they walked down the steps.

“You can see how much of a good time they’re having,” he said. “They’re just so excited getting off the bus. That’s one of the things I like is taking them off the bus because they’re so ready and pumped to go.”

The prom gives everyone a place to belong and dance along to some songs.

“When you have a child with a disability, or they see a child with a disability, that child wants to fit in just like everybody else,” Musick said. “They want to do the same things as everybody else. It might look a little different. It might sound a little different. And it might take them a few extra steps to complete some things. But at the end of the day, they have the same hopes and dreams that everybody else has.”