Thinker's Agenda on their Project Prom Field Trip.
On Friday, April 4th, Thinker’s Agenda Club at CCHS embarked on a field trip to donate prom items to students at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School (PVMHS), and equally supported Anton’s Cleaners’ event, “Belle of the Ball”. The club’s goal was to provide every student the opportunity to experience the magic of prom, regardless of financial constraints. Thanks to the community’s generosity, the club donated over 130 items, including 70 prom dresses ranging in size from 0 to 18.
Behind the vibrant dresses, accessories, and shoes donated by the CCHS community lay weeks of thoughtful planning by Thinker’s Agenda. During meetings leading up to the trip, the club members meticulously mapped out their journey, taking into consideration everything from traffic to the logistics of loading and unloading a bus full of precious apparel.
In the last week of March, the club set up a donation rack near the Learning Commons, inviting CCHS students to contribute their prom dresses, shoes, and accessories. The response was overwhelming: racks filled up quickly with a beautiful array of prom dresses, shoes, and accessories.
A couple of days before the trip, the club set up a little store, which was open to students in the CCHS community. During this time, CCHS students were able to shop at the store and obtain items at no cost to them.
On the morning of the trip, club members Sadie Kokoszka ‘26, Sarafina Zhang ‘26, Rachel Ely ‘26, Meg Martines ‘26, Cyndi Jiang ‘26, Orin Lewis ‘26, Emily Caldwell ‘26, Iliana Benson ‘27, and their club advisor, Mrs. Ray, all gathered the CCHS community’s donated prom wear, organized them by size, determined which location they would be best suited for, and loaded them onto the bus.
By 9:30 AM, the club set off to their first stop: Reading Memorial High School (RMHS). Upon arriving at RMHS, the students gratefully gathered an additional collection of donated prom wear from this neighboring community. On the bus, the club continued to work together to sort through all the items, keeping inventory of sizes and location needs. Pretty soon, the bus resembled an assembly line of glitter and glam, with dresses being passed back and forth in order to better organize this growing collection.
The club then headed out to Anton’s Cleaners, a Massachusetts-based Dry Cleaning company, in Woburn. There, they donated a portion of their dresses to Anton’s Cleaners, in preparation for their drive, “Belle of the Ball,” an initiative that professionally cleans and distributes prom dresses to high school students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to attend their school’s prom. At this location, items that may have been overlooked due to signs of wear would be professionally cared for and later available at no cost at their community event in Boston.
After Anton’s, the group got back on the bus and traveled to Peabody, Massachusetts. Once in Peabody, it was time for a much-welcomed break for lunch at Perfecto’s Caffe, enjoying some food and smoothies before reaching the final donation stop of their journey.
At around 12:30 PM, the bus pulled up to PVMHS, where the CCHS students were greeted by Peabody’s school staff and volunteering students. The donated prom wear was carefully unloaded and taken to the school’s “Bull Market,” a classroom that has recently been transformed into a shop-like space to combat the community’s growing needs. While the room contained many items, from everyday clothing, to shoes, and even toiletries, the space had not yet received anything for their students in regards to formal wear until the Thinker’s Agenda students got involved. In total, _____ items were donated.
Reflecting on the day, Rachel Ely ‘26 shared, “I felt inspired helping the community and other communities… I felt grateful for the other people helping us, and that we had so many dresses to give, and so much jewelry and shoes to give.” Meg Martines ‘26 agreed, saying, “I felt very fulfilled in the work that we did today.”
Club advisor, Mrs. Ray added, “There were so many moving parts to make this field trip and donation drive successful. Despite some hiccups along the way, I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of so many communities coming together to help us make such a difference in other people’s lives.”
Thinker’s Agenda wrapped up their day by writing heartfelt thank-you notes to those who helped make this trip a success, hopeful that this tradition of giving continues for years to come. Mrs. Ray continues, “It felt like a magical day—knowing that someone who really needed those items was going to receive them and experience the generosity and kindness of others. I felt this deep gratitude for everyone who cared about others. It was just a great field trip all around, and I really hope we can keep doing it every year.”
