Some girls at OHS may find getting a dress that they like or can afford for school dances to be difficult, but girls’ fitness teacher Rose Hickey wanted to change that with her Winter Formal Dress Event that allows girls to find and wear a formal dress for free that was held Jan. 22.

“Last year, a few ladies did it at the middle school, but it was kind of low-key. They just picked some girls that needed some dresses to go to winter formal, and they just kind of did it over there,” Hickey said. “Then, I thought, ‘You know, I have so many short dresses that we really need to share the wealth here and open them up to everybody’, and that’s why I decided to do this one.”

The dresses came completely out of donations, and the whole event was set up by volunteers like senior Anna Mathis Larson. She helped out before and during the program.

“Well, they’ve been collecting dresses for a while, and today we came and organized them all. We’ve all been separating [dresses] by sizes and all that,” Larson said.

Though she is now a freshman in college, Hickey’s daughter Madison Hickey came back to OHS to help out with the event.

“I came up, and I helped lay out all the dresses and get everything set up and try to make it look like a dress boutique, so we could give the girls the full experience,” Madison said.

Madison believes that allowing every girl at school access to dresses is so important in order to make sure that everyone can remember their Winter Formal as being a good one.

“I think it’s important to help every girl in high school get the full experience of Winter Formal and Prom and find the perfect dress for them no matter what age they are,” Madison said.

The students who participated in the event enjoyed having an opportunity to find their dress, and many enjoyed the options that were offered.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for girls that don’t have time or just trying to find options,” senior Shalini Patel said. “l think it’s a better opportunity for them to get dresses.”

Junior Diamond Malone was grateful for the event and was even able to find her first-choice dress.

“I like the fact that there’s an opportunity for girls like me who’re not able to get dresses, to actually come out and explore and be like every other girl,” Malone said. “You want to find the right dress and have fun.”