Brandy Blankenship was as pretty as any fairy tale princess Friday as she floated from her car to the doors of the Open Door School. And in her white floral formal, with a purple corsage on her arm, she no doubt felt like it, too.

While her date for the evening, Steven Martin, waited with other ODS students, Brandy and her friend, Kayla Sharp, got their photographs made. Prom 2009 was something she had been waiting for.

“Anything to do with boys and dancing,” her mom, Sheila, joked as Brandy slapped a five to fellow ODS student Corey Williams.

Libby Wooten shimmered in a short and sequined green dress and although she looked regal, too, she confessed that she spent “no time at all” getting ready for her big night.

Not the case with Kayla Sharp. Her sister, Sheena, and Mom, Misty, said Kayla spent a couple hours on her hair, her dress, her big night.

“All she talked about all week was

the dance,” Sheena said.

Twenty-eight students attended the prom this year. Teacher Kathy Connor said she hoped this night under the stars would be memorable for years to come for each and every one of them.

“We want them to remember the good times, especially at the Open Door School. They’re the stars tonight. I hope they all feel good,” Connor said.

This year’s prom was a departure from the past: previous Open Door proms were during the day. This one began with a grand march at 5 p.m. The theme, appropriately, was “Night With The Stars.”

And the grand march was not a foot stroll around the building but a trip around the block in that most modern of carriages: the convertible.

Tops back, the cars were lined up on South Fifth Street at the stroke of 5, waiting for the signal to begin. This change in particular seemed a hit with the students.

As his car began to roll, Martin waved to a friend waiting for his ride, and flashed a quick thumbs up.