Conway's prom: Memorable experience for everyone

"I loved prom, especially my pink dress. I felt like a princess," Ariel Porschman, a special education student at Conway High School said.

Conway's prom was held April 19 at Ruth Doyle Intermediate School. For the past 15 years, Trish Bowers and Cheryl Daniels have taken their special education class to the event and this year, with the need for a ticket at $15 each, the teachers had to raise money to help send the students.

About a month before prom, the special education class and Caring Cats officers, with extra help from seniors Amie Smith and Jacey Stone, sold $1 tickets to be put in a raffle for a drawing for a 20-inch flat screen television with a built in DVD player. All proceeds from the fundraiser went to sending this year's special education class to prom.

A friendly in-class competition was held among the students with the prize being a fully paid meal with the person of their choice and the restaurant of their choice. Justin Norman won the class competition, selling 381 tickets. He chose School Resource Officer David Berry to eat a meal with him at either The Market Place or Fish House. The winner of the raffle, coincidentally, was Norman's aunt, Vicki Curran.

Preparing for the prom, Express Male Jeans sent representatives to measure the boys for their tuxedos. Scotty Bell of Virco loaned the class a 14-passenger van and the chauffeur for the night was his brother, Phillip Bell, special education teacher at CHS West.

Special education student Josh Spurlin said that one of his favorite parts of the night was "riding in the van with all the flashing lights and watching the movie, Shrek."

The students enjoyed dinner at Mike's Place in downtown Conway, where the restaurant provided the students with a sample of each appetizer on the menu. Spurlin particularly enjoyed the calamari. The students were also treated to dessert by Mike's Place.

After dinner the students headed to Ruth Doyle Intermediate School for the dance. Special Education student Julissa Wade says her favorite part of the whole night "was to dance." She said she really enjoyed dancing to the songs by Soulja Boy and Baby Bash.

Other memories were made by the students at the prom. Norman said the night was pretty special for him because the stage was decorated nice and he had pictures made with both of his brothers, Daniel and Josh, who also attended prom.

In addition to the fellowship with other CHS students, Spurlin said he enjoyed talking to the police officers who were providing the event's security

Daniels and Bowers said they are especially grateful for all the support shown to provide their class with such a memorable experience.

(Mary Deloney is a senior at Conway High School and the co-editor for the Wampus Cat newspaper. Dana Redding is a junior at Conway High School and copy editor for the Wampus Cat newspaper.)