First Day of Cinderella's Closet Covered in Potomac News

Check out this great coverage of The House's Cinderella Ball preparations from Monday's Potomac News.

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Teens pick dance clothes

By AMANDA STEWART

astewart@potomacnews.com

Monday, May 21, 2007

When Cari Cockrell walked into The House in Woodbridge, she knew what she was looking for.

Cari, 13, quickly pulled a red sparkly dress off a rack and walked into the dressing area.

Emerging a few minutes later, she twirled in her red dress for a crowd of onlookers.

"So pretty," her mother, Kim Cockrell said.

Cari and her friend Kelly Erickson, 15, were preparing for their first dance, the Cinderella Ball, sponsored by The House, a nonprofit tutoring and mentoring program in Woodbridge.

The dance is designed specifically for middle and high school students with disabilities.

For teens like Cari and Kelly, who attend Bull Run Middle School near Haymarket, the dance offers a chance to interact with their peers, Kim Cockrell said.

"They've been to a couple of school dances, but they usually end up standing in the back all night and don't do anything," Cockrell said. "This is a good chance for them to go and have fun with their peers and people from their class."

A few students from Cari's class may attend a typical school dance, but many more of them will attend the Cinderella Ball, Cockrell said.

This is the second year that The House has sponsored the Cinderella Ball.

"Last year the response was just phenomenal," said Helen McCormick, president of The House-Incorporated. "People have been calling literally since January to ask if we were doing this again."

This year, The House invited 200 students from Prince William County and the surrounding area. The dance, on June 1, will include a catered dinner inside The House, a renovated warehouse near B.J's Wholesale Club in Woodbridge. The dance will be outside, in a large event tent donated by the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation.

More than 100 volunteers have signed up to help on the night of the dance, she said.

The dance is still a little less than two weeks away, but the guests were already excited as they picked out dresses, shoes, necklaces, bracelets and other accessories, all donated by local stores and residents. Boys got to choose from racks of donated ties. Some also got a little help figuring out how to tie them.

"My dad knows how to do this, but I don't," said James Solis, 17, after a volunteer helped him pick out a red striped tie.

James and his friend, Terry Norman, 17, said they were excited to attend their first dance.

"I'm excited. It's my first big dance away from school. It will be fun," James said.

Closer to the big day, the students will return to The House to get their hair and makeup done and to get shoes shined.

The dance is fun for the students, but it means even more to their parents, McCormick said.

"Last year, a dad came up to me and said 'I never thought I'd dance with my daughter, and you gave me that chance.' It just touches your heart," she said.

Read the whole thing here.