Staff photo / Brandon Cantwell Chris Wright of Niles dances with his granddaughter, Aurora, 4, at Alta Head Start’s Under the Stars Preschool Prom Thursday afternoon. Parents and children were treated to an evening that featured a dinner, commemorative pictures, and dancing to songs such as “The Floor is Lava, an interactive game song.

LIBERTY — Preschoolers could hardly contain their excitement on the dance floor as Alta Head Start hosted its inaugural “Under the Stars Preschool Prom” Thursday night.

The three-hour event at Girard’s Metroplex Event Center, the second of two nights, brought together 530 parents and children from across the Mahoning Valley. They enjoyed dinner, prom photos, dancing and a 360-degree camera booth.

Angela Church-Bukus, Alta’s Family and Community Services manager, explained that Shelly Burns, their education manager, suggested a prom.

“We just thought it was a fantastic opportunity for us to have a fantastic, enormous event for all of our parents and our kiddos to come to,” Church-Bukus said. “One of the things we focus on is parents engaging with them in meaningful and memorable events — and this is just one of those times.”

Alta Head Start Director Lori Stellmar said the prom was unique to preschoolers, giving preschoolers a night to themselves when they wouldn’t experience something like it until junior or senior high school.

Bukus said the event was “huge, as it gives them a chance to get parents on board with keeping them around.”

Bukus was referring to reports that the Trump Administration was considering a budget proposal that would eliminate funding for Head Start.

“This isn’t necessarily something that the focus is on, but since the administration came out with its proposal to eliminate funding for Head Start, this is a huge event where we can get parents on board saying, ‘Listen, this is the prime opportunity for us to stand up; this is our voice, this is why it’s important,” Bukus said.

Stellmar said losing Head Start would be “catastrophic” to both Mahoning and Trumbull counties, which have thousands enrolled in the program.

“A lot of our families would not be able to utilize child care, as it would be expensive and they also may not be able to continue their work,” Stellmar said.

Head Start CEO Vince Paolucci, who has spent 30 years in social work, echoed that concern.

“You’re talking about 1,200 families that, if the Trump administration moves forward with their budget to defund Head Start, they’ll lose child care,” he said. “They’ll lose all these valuable services that help these families kind of rise out of poverty, help them go to work, so they can have affordable child care; it’s inevitable. It’s a vital component to what they need to survive.”

David Venerose of Hubbard, who was there with his wife, Noelle, and three kids, Giddeon, Josef and David III, explained that support was one of the main reasons he came to the event.

“Our kids have certainly matured, and they’ve become proficient in their math and numbers and alphabet; mom and I try to teach them this at home, but in an environment outside of it, they seem to have been doing a lot better,” Venerose said. “David’s almost potty trained and they’ve been working with him with that. It’s a wonderful program.

“I applaud the staff at Head Start; I applaud the administration, the people who put these things together. The teachers and the staff and the faculty care about the children; I’d like to see the program continue. It really does make a difference in our childrens’ lives in so many areas.”

Venerose admitted that they were excited about coming to the event even though he wasn’t sure if they knew what a prom was. But telling them about the music, pictures and food had them hooked.