“No anxiety. No stress. No judging. Just fun.”

That’s how Jeanne DiCicco, a special education teacher at Oxford High School, summed up the Prom with a Purpose held April 23 at Legacy 925.

Fifty-eight students dined, then danced the night away to the sounds of The Persuasion Band.

Twenty-eight of them were OHS students with special needs and students from Learning Opportunities for Tomorrow (LOFT), an adult transition program for 18-to-26- year-olds. The rest were from the high school’s mentorship class.

According to DiCicco, the students “really embraced” the whole prom experience.

“They felt like kings and queens,” she said. “When they walked in, they started dancing immediately. They all told me it was the best night they’ve ever had. I must have heard that 12 times, if not more.”

Katie Goetz, who teaches the mentorship class, said “it was just so much fun to watch all sets of students” interacting, smiling and enjoying themselves.

“They were able to let loose and everybody felt beautiful,” she said. “It was all about them. It wasn’t about anybody else. They could just enjoy themselves. It was fun.”

The prom was organized by the mentorship students. DiCicco said they “went above and beyond” to make sure everything came together perfectly.

Every time they faced a problem or a challenge arose during the planning process, DiCicco said the students told her, “Anything’s possible. We can do this. We will do it.”

Goetz believes her students did a “phenomenal” job. “I have never been more impressed with a group of students,” she said. “I told them I will find the funding (for the event), they just need to put it together and they did. They did an amazing job.”

DiCicco said the special needs and LOFT students “need to have something of their own.” She explained they often don’t go to traditional high school proms because those events can “sometimes be very overwhelming” for them.

This prom was just the right size for them with just the right mix of people, according to DiCicco.

“They’re with the people that they’re with all the time,” she said. “They’re with their closest friends. All the students know each other.”

DiCicco said this prom was all about letting the students feel free and hopeful in a festive atmosphere.

“You can do whatever or be whoever you want. It doesn’t matter. There’s no judgment,” she said.

There were a few moments when DiCicco felt very emotional that evening.

One of them was when the special needs and LOFT students arrived and all of the mentorship students gathered to greet them like heroes.

“They were all lined up, clapping for them,” DiCicco said.

She said it really “stuck out” in her mind just how much the mentorship students cared and “wanted to be there.”

Another moment that left DiCicco feeling choked up was when the band brought the students on stage and had them show off their dance moves.

“They were just so into it, so excited,” she said. “Students that I would never expect to be in front of an audience were up there dancing.”

Goetz’ favorite moment came during the slow dance.

“Everybody had somebody to dance with. Nobody was left out. It was so inclusive. It just brought tears to my eyes,” she said.

DiCicco is already looking forward to the next Prom with a Purpose. “We were ready to start planning next year’s prom while we were cleaning up this year’s,” she said.