MiddletownJournal.com

A year ago, Joey Olinger might not have enjoyed the prom because of the loud music and crowds.

But Saturday night, he was one of the first kids on the floor, doing the worm, break-dancing and dipping the girls as they danced.

In the center of a circle of Middletown students Saturday night, Kyron Collins, in a crisp button down shirt and patterned tie, hit the dance floor.

With two boutonnieres pinned to his shirt — one white and one a vivid orange — the high school student showed off all his latest dance moves to his peers.

Most days, Holly Stacy is quiet, reserved and shy.

But Saturday night, with silver butterfly earrings glinting below the lights on the dance floor, she didn't stop dancing for two hours straight, not even pausing when her friends went to get a drink.

Joey, Kyron and Holly are all Midddletown High School students with disabilities. With the help of Young Life's Capernaum group and the support of MHS students and staff, eight of the school's students with a variety of disabilities attended the MHS prom at the Sharonville Convention Center — a rarity for students with disabilities.

Though more and more schools are hosting alternative proms for students with disabilities, the leaders at Capernaum — a branch of the non-denominational Christian outreach Young Life program aimed at working with students with disabilities — have for the past two years encouraged the students they work with to attend the traditional prom.

"I think it makes them realize that they can do anything that anyone else can do," said Rachel Nusbaum, an alumna who started Capernaum at MHS four years ago and works at Centerville High School in a multiple-disablities classroom as a nurse.

"They are just as special and just as important."

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2805 or mgildow@coxohio.com.

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