by Hollis Wormsby, Jr.
Phillip Academy’s Princess and Pop Dance Creates Warm Memories
On Saturday, March 1, the Parent Teacher’s Association (PTA) at Phillips Academy Elementary School held a Princess and Pop Ball for little Princesses in the first through six grade and their dads. The Ball was held in the school gym which was magically transformed into a dining hall, complete with tablecloths, soft lighting, punch bowls for effect, and a dj who was obviously a favorite of the young Princesses.
I would estimate that there were approximately a hundred couples in attendance including myself, who attended with my little Princess, Danielle, who is a fourth grader at Phillips. The evening is one I will remember a long time. The sight of over 100 beautiful little girls, all dressed up in their nicest gowns, with their hair done, and wearing their little pieces of jewelry. And the dads sitting around just as proud as we could be.
I have often noted over the years that the best thing a dad can do for his daughter is to make her feel like a Princess. I believe that many young ladies who grow up without the influence of a father that loves them, start out in life looking for what they did not get as a child. And I think the emptiness that they start out with makes it easier for others to use them later in life. That is part of the reason it was so refreshing to be a part of this beautiful evening.
I shared part of the evening with my good friend Cedric Sparks and Todd Morris, and their little Princesses. Todd Morris gave remarks for the evening, and in his remarks he talked about our role in teaching our little Princesses how to become Queens, and how a part of the way we teach that is through the way they see us treat the Queens in our lives who are their mothers. Cedric Sparks showed off the dance skills he learned pledging Alpha, as he showed off with his Princess. It seemed throughout the night that the fathers who were fraternity members definitely had it going on as compared to the Non- Phi- Non crowd like myself.
But this night was not about who had the best dance moves, or even which Princess was the prettiest (Mine was), this night was about 100 little girls getting dressed up for an evening with their dads. It was about little Princesses learning what it’s like to be treated like a Princess and the glow on their faces as they showed off their dads to their classmates.
As exciting as the evening was it still had its moments. I remember at one point after dinner had been served I was standing around with several other fathers while our Princesses were doing a line dance. Me and the other dads kind of looked at each other like no our babies aren’t making moves like that already, and realizing we were just years away from even worse. But that is a whole other story.
For now congratulations to the PTA and staff at Phillips Academy Elementary School for an excellent job in presenting the Princess and Pop Ball. Memories were created that will last a lifetime, but even more importantly our little Princesses had a great time and made us all proud.
