If you think a 33-year-old cannot have as much fun at prom as a high schooler, then you just have not met Steve Weatherford.

 

For the third straight year, Weatherford has danced the night away at prom as part of a meaningful initiative, Project Prom.

 

In a passionate attempt to encourage today’s youth to take a stance on important societal issues, Steve Weatherford, the Steve Weatherford World Champion Foundation, and Next Level Training established Project Prom three years ago. An annual project that encourages high school students to think critically about solutions to those challenging societal problems and to find the strength to overcome adversity in their own lives, Project Prom teaches students to become more socially responsible friends, peers, and citizens in the process.

 

Weatherford and Next Level Training hosted this year’s Project Prom at Newark’s Barringer High School, where they used Project Prom as a conduit for students to take on one of today’s most profound and far-reaching issues: cyberbullying. Seniors at Barringer STEAM Academy and Barringer Academy of the Arts and Humanities (BAAH) were invited to compose essays on how they could use their personal experiences with cyberbullying as a driving force to create positive change, eradicate bullying, and use technology in more productive ways instead.

 

After a team of distinguished judges—and prominent public figures—narrowed down the essays to the top 16 finalists’ essays, Weatherford and Next Level Training selected the six overall winners: Briana Vera, Yannett Ortiz, Jonathan Carcamo, Imani Mitchell, Grace Appiah, and Amanda Dominguez.

 

As a reward for penning the most moving, thought-provoking, and inspiring essays, the six winners—and their dates—received a stylish senior prom, with all of their expenses—hair, makeup, flowers, tuxedos, dresses, transportation, and tickets—provided gratis.

 

Over the course of the past two weeks, Weatherford and Next Level Training have been in attendance at both Barringer High School proms to celebrate not only with the Project Prom winners, but also with Barringer’s senior class as a whole.

 

The first prom, Barringer STEAM’s, was held on June 2, 2016, at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville. On June 9, 2016, Weatherford and Next Level Training crashed Barringer’s second prom, this time held for BAAH students at Union’s Galloping Hill Caterers.

 

Dressed in elegant dresses and dapper in tuxedos, the Project Prom winners were outfitted by a group of generous sponsors of Project Prom 2016. This year’s sponsors included Prom Girl (dresses); Star Light Tuxedos (tuxedos); Uber (transportation); Mario Badescu (gift packages of skin care products); Allison Schultz (jewelry and cuff links); and, for the second year in a row, Brennan’s Florist (flowers).

 

STOPit, a technology company with an anti-bullying app, also served as a sponsor of this year’s initiative, joining the Steve Weatherford World Champion Foundation in covering the cost of prom tickets, as well as hair and makeup services, for the winners.

 

Bruce Beck, NBC News 4 New York sports anchor; Duke Castiglione, Fox 5 New York sports anchor; Todd Schobel, president/CEO of STOPit; Nancy Easton, co-founder/executive director of Wellness in the Schools; and Tom Patterson, founder/CEO of Tommy John, generously donated their time and efforts to Project Prom, serving on the judging panel for the first round of essay review. 

 

"It has been a true honor and a privilege to be able to host this project with Steve Weatherford for the last three years," said Donald Shauger, owner of Next Level Training. "We believe in the difference that Project Prom makes, rewarding students for their bravery in tackling some of the most challenging issues faced by today's youth."

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By Alexandra Gakos