Portsmouth High Students Swap Advice, Dresses to Help the Less Fortunate Attend Prom

's Class of 2013 held a dress swap on Friday, April 1. Due to the current economic climate, the goal was to help defray the cost of the formal dances held at island middle schools and high schools.

Students from all schools on Aquidneck Island were invited to attend.

With more than 130 dresses donated, the crowd began to build at the high school. Donated formal dresses were available to purchase for only $15.

Kaitlyn Kucera, the events' main organizer, was one of the students out wrangling donations, including a donation of 30 new dresses. Realizing the challenges of having to pay for formals and events, the goal was to make it very cost effective and fun.

"One of the things we no longer do is our hair and nails at the salon. Girls get together and we do it at home before the dances," Kucera says as a way to budget for the prom.

With an eighth grade graduation at , Froshmore for the freshmen and proms for the sophomores, juniors and seniors, the cost to attend events can be daunting in the best of times and result in non-attendance in the worst.

Sandy Warshauer, a math teacher at Portsmouth High School and owner of Shy Girl Designs in Portsmouth, a handmade jewelery company, brought out her wares to help the girls accessorize.

"I love her earrings", says Kucera.

Charity Shea, a special education teacher and one of the advisers of this event, worked with teachers to be able to give five gift certificates to girls whom they thought could benefit from a new dress. 

Two dresses were also given out freely to students in need, Shea said.

One dress was given to a senior who is currently living on her own. Another dress was given to a senior, whose family relocated due to job transition and house foreclosure.

"It's a great idea not just for prom, but for weddings and summer events," Marie Coccio, a regular substitute teacher at Portsmouth High School, says. Her daughter Kelly, a sophomore at Mt. Hope High School, was browsing through the racks of dresses. 

Kucera and Shea hope to build up the event next year and include donations from Middletown High School and Rogers High School.