Panthers offer ‘promposal’ to students month after school hit by tornado

KERSHAW, S.C. — More than 200 North Central High School juniors and seniors accepted the Carolina Panthers “promposal” Friday less than one month after a tornado with 130 mph winds devastated their school.

A promposal is how high school students sometimes ask each other to prom.

“The tornado kind of hit really hard, so this, I think, is part of the memory, showing how much the community is standing behind us,” the student body president said.

The Panthers, whose motto is “Keep Pounding,” will provide a prom experience for the students who have been tenacious since the destruction.

“One of the things that was special about today was how the team’s mantra, ‘Keep Pounding,’ really plays into the school year,” said Riley Fields, community director for the Panthers.

An EF2 tornado ravaged the school in Kershaw. It tore up the school, buses and the football stadium.

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“I think it was an opportunity for us to come down to encourage the students to ‘Keep Pounding’ through the rest of the school year and to finish strong,” Fields said.

The Panthers also provided North Central new weight room equipment, shoulder pads and practice uniforms worn by Panthers players.

Junior Kalab Haben wasn’t planning on going to North Central prom before the Panthers showed up. Now he feels like he must ask his girlfriend.

“I think I’m gonna do a promposal,” he said.

The theme for the prom is “The Great Gatsby,” and it will be in Charlotte, courtesy of the Panthers.

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