Winter Springs High School group helps students in need attend homecoming events in style

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — It’s homecoming week for many Central Florida high schools, which means football games, parades and dances.

But for some teen girls, getting a date to the dance may not be the problem. The problem may be affording a dress.

One local PTSA program at Winter Springs High School is making dreams come true for dozens of girls.

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Winter Springs High School junior Kayla Sanders found the perfect dress for homecoming.

“I was like, ‘oh my gosh. I found one.’ Cause it can be hard, cause I’m like picky, but I was excited, so I felt pretty good,” Sanders said.

But for Kayla and dozens of other young teens, this was out of reach.

That’s why the PTSA at the school came up with the “Bear Boutique.”

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“So the girls are able to come in, ones that maybe they can’t afford a dress,” said Bear Boutique chair Candy Turner. “It’s not in the parents’ budget for whatever reason, and we make that happen for them.”

Organizers are given a list of students that may need the help, but because of the financial difficulties with the pandemic, they expanded their reach to parents through social media to make sure no one slipped through the cracks.

This year, they were able to get a wide selection of dresses after a local store closed down and donated all the dresses to the boutique.

“And here they get the whole look and feel too,” said Heather Miller, PTSA president at Winter Springs High School. “It’s not just the dress. We have shoes donated, we have accessories donated, we have nail polish donated, color street is here. So, it’s really trying to help them put together an entire look.”

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And for the spring, they are gearing up for prom.

They have lots of dresses, and they will start giving out tuxedos for the guys.

And for prom, the organizers of the Bear Boutique hope to put together a salon where the girls can get their hair and makeup done as well.

The homecoming for Winter Springs is next Saturday.

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