By Katie MacBride, Staff Writer
Gowns, suits, makeup, heels, dancing, pictures, food: The emotions and memories that come with the big milestone of going to prom will last a lifetime.
Friday (Feb. 8), from 6 to 8 p.m., the Nags Head Church is hosting Night to Shine, a prom for people with special needs sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. This will the be church’s second year hosting the prom. Rich Coleman, a youth leader at the Nags Head Church and director of Night to Shine on the OBX, was put in charge of the event when he posted a video on Facebook that got a lot of attention.
“I actually saw Tim Tebow on the ‘Jimmy Fallon Show’ and I was like, ‘Man, he doesn’t play football anymore, what is he doing?’ ” Coleman said. “(Tebow) was talking about Night to Shine in about 700 churches, so I just shared it on my Facebook page and in like 30 minutes I had like 10 people say, ‘When are we doing this?’ ”
As a result of all the community input, Coleman applied for the grant from the Tim Tebow Foundation to receive money yearly to fund the prom. The 2018 Night to Shine at the church was so successful that the Nags Head Church is going to continue to host the event.
“Last year we had about 120 people with special needs come and this year we are going to have about 160 or 180,” Coleman said. “We have groups coming from Edenton, Gates County and all over.”
Individuals who’d like to attend can register at www.timtebowfoundation.org and are even allowed to bring dates who aren’t special needs. The date just has to register for the dance, give the organization their information and the name of the person they are going with.
“Everyone is invited and when (people with or without special needs) register to come, they have it select ‘prom kings’ or ‘prom queens,’ ” Coleman said. “Everyone gets a crown or tiara, flowers or a boutonniere, so that way everyone feels special and there is no winner or loser.”
The Nags Head Church encourages everyone who’d like to be involved to help. FFHS alumnae Leslie Jennings helped volunteer last year at Night to Shine after being asked by one of her youth leaders, Coleman, if she’d like to participate. Jennings is looking forward to helping again this year.
“So (my role) as a dancer is to basically just get out on the dance floor, dance with all of the people that attend and get them involved,” Jennings said. “A lot of times they might be shy or don’t want to dance, so I try to motivate them and be like, ‘Let’s get out there and have some fun!’ ”
Current students are also excited to be attending the prom. Sophomores David Vincent and Ariel Gwin both went to Night to Shine last year and are looking forward to it again . Gwin is looking forward to rocking her new black and white dress and dancing, especially with Vincent.
“I am looking forward to seeing everyone and dancing,” Vincent said.
The Night to Shine is an amazing opportunity to support people with special needs, create awareness and connect with the community.
“It’s not a night for me to feel good about myself, it’s not a night for me to get like positive points in the community, but it’s a night for the kids and the attendees to just have an awesome prom experience that they’ve never had and have an amazing time,” Coleman said.
Watch “Night to Shine Outer Banks” on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/302989671?
Sophomore Katie MacBride can be reached at [email protected].
