Valley's special needs kids get a night at the prom

YOUNGSTOWN

Students with special needs from across Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties spent Friday night dancing to Top 40 songs and celebrating the end of the school year.

The occasion was the 20th annual Special Needs Prom at St. Mary’s Assumption Social Center.

The prom is hosted each year by Canfield High School and is meant to provide the students with an opportunity to experience a prom similar to those at other schools. About 200 kids attended.

Carrie Miller, a Canfield High teacher specializing in intensive needs, has attended the prom for the last four years and spent the evening dancing with her students and her student helpers.

“I think the value in our prom is that it lets these students be a part of something everyone else gets to do. Our students get dressed up, they take pictures, they dance, they ask the student helpers they work with if they’d be their dates,” Miller said. “We get to see them in a different setting than we’re used to.”

Read more about the event in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.