STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Dan Vanden Heuvel went to three school proms before he finally got around to taking his wife to one.

Kat Vanden Heuvel, meanwhile, missed her high school prom because she was a captain of the school soccer team, which was away at tournament on the night of her prom.

“Dan and I hadn’t met yet--we went to competing high schools,” she said.

Caitlyn Mills and Lahela Maxwell dressed to the hilt for Adult Prom.

Kat finally made it to prom Friday night—an Adult Prom put on at Whiskey’s on Main as a fundraiser for The Space afterschool tutoring and enrichment program.

Trish Wilson sashayed in with Robin Leavitt wearing a Dickey dollar popular in the 1950s and ‘60s.

“We’re the chaperones,” said Leavitt, recalling how the proms of her high school youth in Seattle were filled with lots of anxiety on the part of girls who didn’t know if a boy would invite them to prom.

“Girls didn’t go with girls to the prom in those days,” she said. “And the rules were you could only wear your prom dress once, although that wasn’t a problem for me because my father owned a clothing business.”

Debra Drake, Calysta Phillips and Jessica Bejot got a kick out of Calysta’s light-up shoes, which really lit up the dance floor.

Calysta Phillips showed up in snazzy shoes that lit up in orange, blue and green colors while Mattie Calvert showed off dress shoes sporting a picture of his golden retriever Nacho. And Monica Reyna and William Parker showed up in matching silver sequins.

Lahela Maxwell, who works at the Hailey Public Library, recounted how she was prom queen in her high school in O’ahu.

“Girls wore leis instead of corsages, and the young men wore maile, a fragrant vine with shiny green leaves that signified honor, love and respect,” she said.

Caitlyn Mills recounted how this was her third time going to prom with the man who took her to her first prom--her husband Nelson Mills, a ranger with the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

William Parker and Monica Reyna dressed in matching silver sequins.

“Who doesn’t want to go to prom!?” she said.

Leslie Kaplan, who attended with her husband Marty Kaplan, is a board member of The Space.

“I love that they’ve created a place where students feel ownership,” she said as she munched on pizza, pigs in a blanket and a fruit kebob. “For a lot of the kids, it’s the first place where they feel they belong. The kids love to show people around. And, if a kid has an interest in something, they try to arrange some activity that fits their interest.”

Kaplan said she was also proud of the GED program. One girl, Frankie, scored so high on her GED test that teachers encouraged her to go to community college. Later, she attended a four-year university with funding based on exceptional SAT scores.

Bryan and Bailee Ancona and Macquel and Justin Earl had a little fun in front of the camera.

“The Space is a place where kids can stretch, where they can see themselves doing more than they thought they could do. That’s in part due to the one-on-one support they get at The Space,” Kaplan added.

Aaron Bronson executive director at The Space, recounted how early in her career she had taught at schools where students would walk into school, their heads held low, uncertain why they were showing up. They were struggling because the school system didn’t work for them.

“They didn’t feel they mattered, and it broke my heart,” she said. “So, I’m grateful to be in a different place in my life where I can get to know every single student and make sure every single student leaves with confidence and feeling of competence.”

Eighty-eight percent of the Middle School students who come to The Space have reported improved grades; 90 percent report improved math scores. And 100 percent of those who have sought help navigating college admissions have gotten in—with funding.

When the night was over, The Space had raised $40,000—enough to fully fund 16 students at The Space. And later this month The Space will launch its first scholarship—a step forward in expanding opportunity for teens.

Caitlyn Mills is in charge of the summer programming.

“It’s going to be an amazing six weeks with field trips, STEM, pickleball,” she said. “Lots of stuff!”

DID YOU KNOW?

Sixteen percent of teens do not graduate from high school. The Space is trying to change that.