There was no doubt in senior Dustin O’Hara’s mind that a school year’s worth of effort operating a coffee cart at Valley High School paid off.

The coffee cart, coordinated by Valley life skills students and offered weekly to the school, paid for a prom Friday morning at the Wildlife Lodge VFW in Lower Burrell.

“It’s fun,” said O’Hara. “All the work is worth it.”

A total of 120 students from seven area school districts — New Kensington-Arnold, Burrell, Riverview, Plum, Mt. Pleasant Area, Franklin Regional and Kiski Area — strutted their stuff on the dance floor.

“A lot of us are neighbor schools, and we’re so close to each other,” said Amanda Johns, life skills teacher at Valley High School and coordinator of the prom.

“Having this, we’re able to network and collaborate more.”

Johns said the event grew by three school districts and about 45 students from last year.

“It’s important,” she said. “A lot of the kids don’t have the opportunity to go to their regular school prom, and with this, everybody’s kind of the same.”

The prom’s theme was “Under the Sea.” It was complete with snacks, breakfast, lunch, Matt Roberts as DJ, and the Valley High yearbook staff taking photos. A video production class at Valley was working to create a video montage of the event.

The talk of the prom was a 1,400-balloon orange-and-white octopus display made by Johns’ cousin, Mitch Claypoole of Erie. That was surprising to see, said Burrell student Alexis Teeple, who enjoyed showing off her dance moves.

“I’ll dance to any song,” she said.

Dancing and singing was clearly the most fun part for the prom-goers. Franklin Regional students and friends MacKenzie Lescinsky and Marina Sciullo said they enjoyed dancing with friends and meeting new people from other schools.

Lescinsky said “it’s better” than what she expected.

Landon Carlson of Mt. Pleasant said he loved showing off his dance moves with friends.

“We dance, and get our energy out,” he said.

The event was a great outlet for life skills students to express themselves and have fun, said Michael MacConnell, a life skills teacher at Riverview High School.

“I love the opportunity for the kids to be able to be themselves,” he said.

Interacting with students from other schools opens them up a bit, he said.

“To come and let loose is a good thing for them.”