During this season of end-of-year celebrations, none are sweeter than the Angel Prom that gathers an entire community from all five Killeen ISD high schools.
On Saturday, for the eighth year, Shoemaker High School hosted the KISD Special Education Angel Prom.
Letha Reeves, the constant coordinator of the very special event, declared this year’s prom the biggest ever – probably more than 400 people in attendance, with students, parents, school district staff members and community contributors.
Rhiannon Morgan’s 20-year-old daughter is a longtime participant in the Angel Prom.
“This is super important to her and to our family because she’s included,” Morgan said. “These are her peers she goes to school with it. Her friends just won prom king and queen. She can enjoy it on her level sensory wise with her peers and her teachers.”
“We have family here. We come with her every year. It’s her time to come and let loose,” she said.
The gym was decked out in carnival-themed colors and set pieces.
Participants arrived in fancy suits and formal dresses. They walked beneath a canopy, into the decorated cafeteria and, as a DJ played familiar dance tunes past and present, they danced in groups, as couples and even alone.
In the middle of the scheduled three-hour dance, Reeves and a group of helpers stood at the foot of the cafeteria stage and gathered students around for one of the evening's highlights.
One at a time, event planners picked out names at random to be crowned prom king and queen – a pair chosen to represent each high school.
Twelve excited students made their way to the front, accepted a sash and crown, posed for a photo and at the end did a king-and-queen dance.
This year, during the crowning, Reeves presented her usual thanks to the many supporters.
This time, though, she also revealed her own plans to retire from KISD. The Angel Prom, she assured everyone, would continue. The Educated Angels organization is already committed to taking over coordination of the event.
After several people took the microphone and praised Reeves for her long and heartfelt service, she declared it was time to keep this party rolling. The music started up again and it rolled on into the night.
In addition to her duties as parent liaison at Shoemaker High School, Reeves is a tireless community volunteer. She’s been part of Special Olympics 25 years. She coordinates an annual autism walk at SHS that is growing and bringing in other schools.
A big reason this tireless volunteer is so beloved is that she is adamantly selfless.
Sitting inside the school entrance with some of her fellow organizers, Reeves took a breath as families began exiting the school and thanking her for her contribution.
“It was nice what they said,” she acknowledged, “but I’m not interested in all that. I don’t do it for that. I do it because of the love of these kids here. To see these students be like everyone else and have what everyone else has, I wouldn’t change anything.”
“It’s just a blessing and tonight topped them all.”
Angel prom photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720325888972