Two years ago, Mrs. Haley Bissett and Mrs. Carrie Green, employees in the West Greene School District, were kicking around ideas for a fun way to bring students from across the county together to connect and make lasting memories.
Maybe a day at the movies? Or a fun shopping excursion? However, they kept coming back to the idea of a dance and how much fun and special it would be for everyone involved.
Haley and Carrie shared this idea with Hello 2 Hope, a non-profit organization, organized by Justin and Jessica Carpenter of Wind Ridge and Matt Tedrow of Waynesburg. They immediately jumped on board and generously agreed to sponsor the entire event. From there, everyone went to work bringing this vision to life.
Local DJ Jason Forbes generously donated his time and talent to keep the dance floor full all evening, while Angela Horne beautifully captured so many special memories through her photography. Over the past two years, the festive balloon displays were created by Balloons by Brittany and Balloonatics by Holly Miller. In addition, Back Bay Catering, led by Holly Shipley, served up a delicious taco bar that everyone loved.
From the very beginning, Haley and Carrie’s hope was for this event to become a yearly tradition that students would look forward to. Every dance has its own unique theme and personality. Last year, the theme was “Spring Fling.” This year was the “Black and White Ball.”
The event also brought together an incredible group of educators and staff from schools across Greene County who helped make the evening so meaningful. Representing the participating schools were: (West Greene), teacher Haley Bissett and paraprofessional Carrie Green; (Carmichaels Area) Melissa Christopher; (Jefferson-Morgan) Brittany McIntire; (Central Greene) Rose Chiprich; and (Mapletown) Christy Menear.
Haley’s favorite part of the event is seeing schools come together to give students the chance to build friendships, connect with others, and simply enjoy a fun and memorable day together.
Carrie echoed a similar sentiment adding, “Haley and I couldn’t have made this dream a reality without the assistance of Jessica Carpenter and all the support from Hello 2 Hope. Their generosity, encouragement and belief in creating meaningful opportunities for all students helped turn a simple idea into something truly special for our community.”
