For the eighth year on Saturday, a close knit group of families and educators gathered along with a whole stream of vendors, non-profit organizations and personal friends for a special night for a group of special angels.
The Angel Prom, once again hosted at Shoemaker High School, brought together about 300 students from all of Killeen ISD’s high schools, as well as 150 volunteers.
The popular event, promoted through KISD Specialized Learning is a heartening night of dancing, posing for photos, eating, drinking, socializing, and of course, celebrating kings and queens.
It was Letha Reeves, parent liaison at Shoemaker High School at the time, who first went to her principal, Sandra Forsythe and made the official request to host a prom for students in the district’s special education program.
All students have always been welcome to attend traditional high school proms, but Reeves knew there were some who felt uncomfortable with such a loud, dark, crowded environment.
Reeves never requested funds from the school or the district, just permission to use the space, which she easily received.
Since then, a committed army of volunteers have faithfully pulled off the event. This year, it was a “Wizard of Oz” theme with yellow brick road and thematic photo backdrops. Several people dressed in Oz characters.
About halfway through the three-hour scheduled event, Reeves pulled everyone together in front of the DJ, introduced Superintendent King Davis and offered thanks to the large number of donors and volunteers.
Once she finished, she and other leaders got to one of the highlights of the night – choosing kings and queens.
They pulled from five cups representing each high school, names of a boy and a girl, to wear the crown from each school.
At the announcement of each name, the audience of prom goers cheered their support and congratulations for their friends.
Reeves retired from KISD last spring, and just as she said last year, the administration of the prom transferred over to the local non-profit group Educated Angels, which promptly invited the longtime coordinator to continue to do the organizing job as a new board member.
As latecomers continued to file into the school earlier in the evening, Reeves brought KISD’s first-year superintendent Davis up to speed on the event’s history.
Reeves grew up with a sister who did not attend prom due to a disability, a memory that obviously stayed with her.
“We have kids from all the high schools volunteer to make it happen. It’s a family here in Killeen,” she said.
“For eight years this prom has been nothing but donations. I was crying this morning because a mom called me on the phone and she had a son in a wheelchair. She said, ‘I never would have taken my son to a prom.’ She came in the door (tonight). Her son came to a prom, and he had a smile on his face,” she explained.
“That’s how we do things in Killeen,” Reeves said.
One of her colleagues the past eight years is Roberta Wilson, who was a special education teacher at Shoemaker, but is now a district attendance officer and continues to be highly involved in the angel prom.
“I was a PBS teacher at the time, and I remember Ms Reeves talking about the special education kids having their own special day. We started back in 2018,” Wilson said.
“The reason I stay involved is because you can see the excitement in the kids’ eyes and the staff coming together and letting their hair down to embrace this magical night.”
Killeen ISD photo albums: https://www.killeenisd.org/photos