Plan for Stoneman Douglas prom: ‘Over the top’ party, tender tribute
The senior class of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School plan an “over the top” evening of glamour and romance as a way to soften the horrible memory of the worst day in their young lives.
“I pray that when the seniors look back on their last year in high school that prom, not the shooting, is the first thing that comes to their mind,” said Felicia Burgin, a Stoneman Douglas teacher and prom adviser.
Before the Feb. 14 shootings that killed 17 people, the party was to be “just a prom, a known event. Now we want it to be over the top,” senior Madison Hersch said.
In the uncertainty after the attack, students were unsure how the rest of the year would proceed. They questioned whether traditional events, from sports tourneys to graduation ceremonies, would continue as planned. “People were asking if the prom would be canceled,” senior class vice president Lauren Hetzroni said.
“I thought about not even going,” said Carley Ogozaly, whose best friend Meadow Pollack was one of the four seniors who died that day.
The 15 seniors on the 2018 prom committee began brainstorming. They still wanted a party. But they also wanted to recognize the tragedy. They decided to create a memorial near the entrance to the ballroom at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. It would salute those who were slain, including two members of their class who died earlier in their high school years.
The memorial, which will include pictures of the deceased, will be surrounded by couches and designed as a space to sit and think, a quiet place apart from the ballroom’s musical clamor.
The prom will honor the four seniors who died in the massacre: Nicholas Dworet, Joaquin Oliver, Meadow Pollack and Carmen Schentrup — and two others who died in 2016, one of cystic fibrosis and one from suicide.
Almost every school activity has had to reassess its path after the shootings.
School clubs that document students’ lives had to halt what they’d been planning and revise already prepared editions. The school newspaper, The Eagle Eye, released a special publication with pictures and profiles of those killed; the yearbook, the Aerie, added pages to honor the dead.
Senior class president Julia Cordover asked Westin general manager Danny Estevez at a recent prom meeting if the families of the six seniors who died could spend a weekend of their choice at the hotel for free. He didn’t hesitate. “Count on it, no problem, without a doubt,” Estevez said.
This would include Andrew Pollack, father of Meadow, who would’ve gone to the prom with Brandon Schoengrund, her beau of many years. “They were practically going to get married,” Pollack said.
He said he’s been deeply moved by the pre-prom plans of Meadow’s friends, who will arrive together in a pink Cadillac Escalade, her favorite color, which they will decorate with her name in big letters.
Kellie Ogozaly, mother of Meadow’s best friend, Carley, said she wanted Carley to attend prom, despite her initial resistance after Meadow’s death. After checking out a few dresses, they found one they believe matched Meadow’s style: pink, with rhinestones and an open back. “Meadow would have loved this dress,” Kellie Ogozaly said.
Prom donors have also emerged: 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’s been such a tough year for the kids,” Estevez said. “We are picking up the entire cost. It’s about doing the right thing.”