JOPLIN, MO (KCTV) -
High school students in Joplin have seen too much, lost too much and grown up too fast.
"We've gone through so much that it has just become second nature to try and get through things and be happy about what we have," student Erin Lawellin said.
So on prom night, they dance. They laugh, hold hands and step into the spotlight for a different reason.
These kids did get the royal treatment. All the dresses, tuxes and flowers were donated or discounted to show support.
"They had a lot of trauma this year, and they made it through a year of heartache and new schools," parent Rhonda Delzell said.
The old high school couldn't hold this year's prom, or any classes. Surveillance cameras caught the moment the tornado hit, whipping papers and debris through empty hallways and classrooms.
The resulting destruction was the first thing Gene Henderson saw when he freed himself from the rubble.
The walls started to come down on the church next door.
"I was facing to the west where the high school's at, and I told my wife, 'I think the high school is gone.'" Henderson said.
Henderson and his wife, Judy, lost three friends when the walls caved in on them at the church. Still, they said it was better it hit on a church day than a school day.
"It would have been a catastrophe. I mean, it would have been a lot worse than it was," Henderson said.
The new high school is already prepared for the worst.
At Joplin's temporary high school at a nearby mall, the only thing outnumbering the trailer classrooms is a cluster of smaller but more vital buildings, row after row of concrete tornado shelters.
"We're each separated by classroom, gender and last name in each tornado shelter," student Olivia Hampton said.
It is peace of mind for students in Joplin, forever changed by the thought of what could happen.
"This is my weather radar that I always have pulled up just so I can watch and see what is going on," Hampton said.
The radar is sandwiched between two pictures on Olivia's phone she also carries with her. The two photos are of Will Norton and Lantz Hare.
Norton was killed driving home from his own graduation ceremony from Joplin High School.
"He is always remembered," Hampton said.
Hare, who would have been a junior this year, was killed in his car.
"He was just a good person. I wish he was here," said Matthew Hare, whose brother was killed in the storm.
So on prom night, Matthew Hare walks the red carpet for his brother, Lantz.
"Everyone says I look like him. I get that all the time, so I remember him a lot from that," he said.
The memories drive Matthew forward, pushing him to get the most out of life and leave a legacy, along with his fellow classmates, of what it takes to stand together.
"This is our city. We're rebuilding. No tornado can take us down," Morgan Burnside said.
The students at Joplin High may not have a school anymore, but they still have each other to fight back and to keep dancing.
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