When the doors of the First Baptist Church opened on January 16, laughter filled the air as the Davie High Soaring Eagles hit the dance floor at the 2026 Hope Prom. The happiness of these students, members of Davie’s Exceptional Children’s program, was contagious as it spread to the students and staff who were there to help make their day magical.
Hope Prom is an annual event hosted by Davie High’s National Honor Society (NHS). Each year, NHS members work to set a budget, plan a theme, set up decorations, and coordinate other details all with the goal of giving the Soaring Eagles a chance to experience the magic of a school dance.
Senior Penelope Sa, head of the Hope Prom subcommittee, worked closely with fellow NHS members and the club’s teacher advisors to put on the event this year. Having enjoyed working on the project so much last year, she was excited for the opportunity to lead the committee this year and ensure that every student had a great time.
“The whole point of Hope Prom is to create an environment where the Soaring Eagles can have a school dance, and show off their dance moves (which just might be their favorite part),” Sa said. “When they hit the dance floor and show their moves, the joy becomes contagious to all the students helping out.”
The excitement didn’t only exist on the dance floor, though. Throughout the afternoon, the Soaring Eagles exuded happiness, even amid last-minute changes. As the committee was planning the event, food became an area of stress. In the past, Chick-fil-A has catered Hope Prom, but with a lack of funding and allergies to take into account, the team found themselves unable to follow through with their original plan. For a last-minute rescue, Lydia Moore, the owner of Restaurant 101 and The Station, donated pizzas. The change in menu did little to dampen the spirits of the Soaring Eagles, though, or the volunteers who served them.
“Serving the food was my favorite part of the day because I got to interact with the Soaring Eagles,” senior Lanna Robinson said. “They exhibit so much joy and their smiles can brighten anyone’s day.”
That joy persisted as the students filled the dance floor and cut loose. This was a relief to some of the student volunteers who had initially worried that the event would not be as successful as previous Hope Proms. As students entered First Baptist Church, some noticed the simplicity of the space.
“When I got there… It looked very undecorated. I don’t know how it was last year, but going off this year, there were just tablecloths, and there was a little bit of a backdrop,” one Davie High student who wishes to remain anonymous said. “It just seemed unorganized in a way, and I felt like the decorations were lacking, even though that’s not the point.”
This year’s challenges may have been caused by obstacles that impacted NHS’s usual planning process. NHS’s Soaring Eagles Committee is primarily responsible for organizing Hope Prom each year. According to senior Cody White, head of this committee, the group found itself navigating a time crunch when preparing for the event.
“This year we happened to find ourselves in a difficult timeline for Hope Prom,” White said. “Usually, we have a little more time for planning and fundraising, but the school schedule just made it hard. Along with that, volunteers had exams and community college classes to worry about. Overall, I think we did the best we could with the obstacles we had!”
Despite these challenges, the 2026 Hope Prom proved that the magic has never depended on decorations, the budget, or near-perfect planning, but on the joy of the Soaring Eagles. Their laughter, their confident moves, and excitement is what transformed the simple space of the church into a dance. Hope Prom wasn’t defined by what was missing, but what was unmistakably present.
