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Excpetional student education takes center stage at Elks Lodge prom for students of Hillsborough's County's Willis Peters center in Dover, Fla.
![James Oliver Jr., in a break from dancing with his date, spends a tender moment with his mom. "This is our first prom," she said. "James is 14 but he functions like he's three. I love [the] Willis Peters [Exceptional Student Education Center]. It's made him independent and part of a community. The staff members are more like his moms than his teachers. They are dedicated to each child and, based on each child's needs, they promote indepence."
According to his mother, her son has Hunter Syndrome and was not expected to live a long life. "This is the child who's not supposed to make it past age five," she said.](http://www.mypapernow.com/Other/Prom-Night-At-The-Elks-Lodge/i-NMtqLJ2/1/Ti/DSC_3020-Ti.jpg "James Oliver Jr., in a break from dancing with his date, spends a tender moment with his mom. \"This is our first prom,\" she said. \"James is 14 but he functions like he's three. I love [the] Willis Peters [Exceptional Student Education Center]. It's made him independent and part of a community. The staff members are more like his moms than his teachers. They are dedicated to each child and, based on each child's needs, they promote indepence.\"
According to his mother, her son has Hunter Syndrome and was not expected to live a long life. \"This is the child who's not supposed to make it past age five,\" she said.")
!["This is one of the best proms we've ever had," said Peggy Ferro, site administrator for the Willis Peters Exceptional Student Education Center. "Standing room only! It's such a wonderful night." She thanks also the Brandon Elks Lodge #2383 for its generous donation of space for the annual prom and prom fundraiser.
With her is Tom Thomas, a teacher at Willis Peters, who said he came to the center by accident. "I was working in a group home [for mentally handicapped adults] up north when my friend asked me to come down here [to Florida] and be a teacher," Thomas said. "That was 10 years ago and I'm really glad I did."](http://www.mypapernow.com/Other/Prom-Night-At-The-Elks-Lodge/i-dV7Wk65/1/Ti/DSC_3037-Ti.jpg "\"This is one of the best proms we've ever had,\" said Peggy Ferro, site administrator for the Willis Peters Exceptional Student Education Center. \"Standing room only! It's such a wonderful night.\" She thanks also the Brandon Elks Lodge #2383 for its generous donation of space for the annual prom and prom fundraiser.
With her is Tom Thomas, a teacher at Willis Peters, who said he came to the center by accident. \"I was working in a group home [for mentally handicapped adults] up north when my friend asked me to come down here [to Florida] and be a teacher,\" Thomas said. \"That was 10 years ago and I'm really glad I did.\"")
Musician Dennis Lee, who for more than two decades has befriended and performed for the students at Hillsborough County's Willis Peters Exceptional Student Education Center, takes a moment with Jacob Ferguson at the 2010 prom. "Do you like to sing?" Lee asked him. "Yes, yes I do," Ferguson answered. "I like to record a lot of stuff, too." Why does Jacobson like to sing? As he put it: "It makes me feel good."
The prom is held each year at the Brandon Elks Lodge, where the event facility space is offered to the students at no charge. A fundraiser was held a week prior to the 2010 prom, at which The Dennis Lee Show also was the night's entertainment.
Lee calls it "a labor of love," his decades-long commitment to Willis Peters, adjacent to Dover Elementary School in Dover, Fla. The center serves students, ages 3 through 22, with limited intellectual functioning and other disabilities, such as deafness and visual, language, speech, and physical impairments.
Related Coverage:
The prom is held each year at the Brandon Elks Lodge, where the event facility space is offered to the students at no charge. A fundraiser was held a week prior to the 2010 prom, at which The Dennis Lee Show also was the night's entertainment.
Lee calls it "a labor of love," his decades-long commitment to Willis Peters, adjacent to Dover Elementary School in Dover, Fla. The center serves students, ages 3 through 22, with limited intellectual functioning and other disabilities, such as deafness and visual, language, speech, and physical impairments.
Related Coverage:
- The Willis Peters prom fundraiser at the Brandon Elks Lodge, May 2, 2010
Brandon Elks Lodge, where the event facility space is offered to the students at no charge. A fundraiser was held a week prior to the 2010 prom, at which The Dennis Lee Show also was the night's entertainment.
Lee calls it "a labor of love," his decades-long commitment to Willis Peters, adjacent to Dover Elementary School in Dover, Fla. The center serves students, ages 3 through 22, with limited intellectual functioning and other disabilities, such as deafness and visual, language, speech, and physical impairments.
Related Coverage:
- The Willis Peters prom fundraiser at the Brandon Elks Lodge, May 2, 2010
Musician Dennis Lee, who for more than two decades has befriended and performed for the students at Hillsborough County's Willis Peters Exceptional Student Education Center, takes a moment with Jacob Ferguson at the 2010 prom. "Do you like to sing?" Lee asked him. "Yes, yes I do," Ferguson answered. "I like to record a lot of stuff, too." Why does Jacobson like to sing? As he put it: "It makes me feel good."
The prom is held each year at the Brandon Elks Lodge, where the event facility space is offered to the students at no charge. A fundraiser was held a week prior to the 2010 prom, at which The Dennis Lee Show also was the night's entertainment.
Lee calls it "a labor of love," his decades-long commitment to Willis Peters, adjacent to Dover Elementary School in Dover, Fla. The center serves students, ages 3 through 22, with limited intellectual functioning and other disabilities, such as deafness and visual, language, speech, and physical impairments.
Related Coverage:
The prom is held each year at the Brandon Elks Lodge, where the event facility space is offered to the students at no charge. A fundraiser was held a week prior to the 2010 prom, at which The Dennis Lee Show also was the night's entertainment.
Lee calls it "a labor of love," his decades-long commitment to Willis Peters, adjacent to Dover Elementary School in Dover, Fla. The center serves students, ages 3 through 22, with limited intellectual functioning and other disabilities, such as deafness and visual, language, speech, and physical impairments.
Related Coverage:
- The Willis Peters prom fundraiser at the Brandon Elks Lodge, May 2, 2010
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