Chicago Cops Send Girls To Prom
(CBS) -- A memorable day for eight high school students from the city's South Side.
Two Chicago police officers helped raise funds to send them to prom -- all expenses paid.
CBS 2's Sandra Torres reports.
Friday started for 18-year-old Kaszha Jackson this way: by getting her make up done for a very special celebration.
"I'm so excited, I cannot wait to put my dress on and just walk out," she says.
Kaszha is a senior at Julian High School in the Washington Heights neighborhood. She's one of eight students selected to have all expenses paid to go to prom.
"When she told me she was picked for this I said thank you Jesus!" the teen's grandmother, Learna Solsberry, says.
She's grateful to the officers who are making it happen.
"They're paying for everything, and I said really? Because I had an accident and I was wondering how would I be able to do this," the grandmother adds.
That's exactly why Officer Samanthia Smith and Beonka Brooks do this every year...
"We reach out to kids who are on the road to graduating but have financial issues at home. The parents may not be able to pull off graduation fees," Brooks says.
Each student had to have a 3.5 grade-point average in order to qualify for the program.
