Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A bittersweet prom night
Douglas victims remembered at high school dance
Stoneman Douglas seniors keep slain friends in hearts.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School prom goers walked into an enchanted forest Saturday night.
The main ballroom at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort was decorated with “trees” and green thickets. Actors disguised as forest creatures, wood nymphs and deer, scampered about as the 850 students came to step away for one night from the horrific event that rocked all of their young lives.
Each table had a floral centerpiece more than 4 feet tall. Butterflies were released from the rooftop.
But murdered friends, staff and classmates were still front and center, with a prominently placed memorial to them . A man-sized ice sculpture also stood in the hallway, proclaiming, “#MSDSTRONG.” There was also a room set aside for quiet reflection.
The Parkland school suffered one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history on Feb. 14 when Nikolas Cruz opened fire
with a semi-automatic rifle, killing 17 and wounding 17 others.
With her hair done up in ringlets, and professionally applied make-up, Nicole Barreto, 17, was ready late Saturday to walk onto her first formal dance.
“I’m trying to have a good time,” said the softspoken Barreto, who will be starting at the University of Florida in the fall, with plans to become a doctor. “I just want to make sure I have a good time with all my friends.”
There was some thought given to cancel some of the traditional end-of-schoolyear celebrations like prom, in light of the tragedy. But Stoneman Douglas decided to celebrate.
Donations have poured in as businesses donated items to make the prom unforgettable. The hotel, the DJ, the florist, the decorator and all the other prom vendors offered to donate their services, for free or at cost. It reduced each ticket price by nearly $100, compared with last year’s event.
Daniel Estevez, general manager of the resort, said his staff worked with the prom committee, trying to balance acknowledging the horrific event and giving them a night to remember.
“We are proud to be a part of it,” he said.
A Broward Sheriff ’s Office detail stood at the front entrance, the only way revelers were allowed in.
“The senior class is going to be missing some of its members — we don’t forget that, none of us,” said Rebecca Schneid, a senior, who dressed in a black gown for the event.
Barreto’s “prom-posal” involved rose petals. She tried on 10 different gowns before she settled on a gold sparking tulle gown she wore Saturday. A party bus with 39 others whisked her to the prom. But, it’s hard to forget that she was in the same Advanced Placement English lit class Carmen Schentrup, also a senior, had before she was killed.
“Everyone’s going to feel it,” she said.
After putting on fresh coat of lipstick, she reflects on how it’s been to have some of her classmates become instantly recognizable figures, with millions of Twitter followers and appearances on worldwide airwaves.
“I think it’s cool,” she said. “They got out there and spoke about what they are passionate about.”
Cards from the funeral she went to and “#NeverAgain” wristbands will soon be joined by pressed prom flowers in a memory box she keeps.
“I keep it close to my heart,” she said.