The Occupational Therapy (OT) team at Mercer High School at Mercer County Special Services School District (MCSSSD), identified challenges and created an innovative program to engage their students in preparing for and attending the Prom. Using the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF-4), they developed a Prom Boutique, which gives students meaningful transition opportunities for post-school success, while offering them a place to find free prom attire.
After noticing that the high price of prom attire was a barrier for students to attend their school prom, the occupational therapists (OTs) were inspired to organize and distribute free prom dresses and suits. This opportunity serves an additional purpose – it provides students with tools to build their skills in a simulated retail environment, which builds toward their transition to post-school success and improves skills for independence. The OTs started the process by outlining the supplies needed to run the Prom Boutique, such as technology, materials, space, and time. Then, they requested donations and arranged the space with clothing racks. As donations started to come in, students created tags, sorted inventory, entered data into the system, staged and photographed the items, and developed a webpage to advertise the items.
The Prom Boutique is primarily funded through donations of clothing items. To allow students to choose their attire, the boutique was set up by the students both as an online store, accessible from home, and an in-person boutique. This included dresses, suits, shoes, and accessories. The staff members used in-house technology (ie. Chromebooks, and iPads) and free online platforms (ie. Google Sites) to build the online store. The district generously supplied the rolling racks and space for the boutique, making this service accessible to all students interested in participating.
The occupational therapists at Mercer High School have demonstrated how applying the occupational therapy framework to the high school prom boutique is one way to equip students with special needs the tools needed for post-school success and highlights the role of OTs in successful secondary education transition planning and programming. Skills gained during this experience are focused on technology (building a database and website, photography) as well as motor skills, processing skills, and opportunities for social interaction. In addition to the current opportunities for students, this initiative has room to grow. Future opportunities for the Prom Boutique might include broadening the scope of services to the local community by offering dress rentals, laundering, alterations, and styling; offering salon services like hair, nails, and makeup; operating as a thrift store; partnerships with speech therapists; and more.
This concept was so successful that Amy and Patricia presented the idea at AOTA INSPIRE 2025: The American Occupational Therapy Association National Conference in Philadelphia at the beginning of April.
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