VIDEO: A Prom-Perfect Proposal in Rhode Island

VIDEO: A Prom-Perfect Proposal in Rhode Island

It was a prom proposal worthy of a social media post. 

After the annual rite of passage for high school students was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cranston East Senior Dylan Needham made sure he was not going to miss out in 2021.

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Needham was captured on video this past week asking his good friend Emily Sanita to prom — to which she excitedly, and emotionally, said yes.

And Sanita then shared the video to Instagram. 

“He hit me at 1:30 in the afternoon, I said isn’t he supposed to be in school?” said Sanita, a 19-year-old in the Cranston transition program, of being asked to prom by Needham.

“My teacher Miss Watson texted me and asked could I face time with Dylan,” Sanita told GoLocal of the proposal. “I was was so surprised when he asked. It made my day.”

“He’s a bright, funny kid, and a wonderful person,” said Sanita, who said she had hoped to go with Needham, who she has known for almost five years, to prom last year -- before it was canceled.

Big Date Following Tough Year

Needham told GoLocal he asked Sanita because she is a “good friend," and that he is “super-excited” for prom.

Dylan’s mom Dina Needham said they are going to Carl Anthony Tuxedo in Cranston this week, and that for the two friends, going to prom after a year in which students were unable to see each other for most of the year means so much.

“They talk every night,” said Needham. “The whole thing this year, the kids couldn’t see each other. We knew we couldn’t see each other, but kids who are academically challenged missed that connection. But he kept up that friendship up with Emily — that was really important to him.”

“Everything he does is from the heart,” Needham added.

Sanita says she plans right now to wear a purple dress that she wore to a prom in 2019, will possibly do her hair up “in a bun” along with makeup, and is excited for the event this year taking place outside in Cranston Stadium, under a tent.

During the pandemic, Sanita was busy helping the community — she started a fundraiser that ultimately collected over 200 blankets for the needy — and says her goals for the future are to “change the world.”

“I like being in the government area,” said Sanita, who has previously worked at Cranston City Hall in various capacities and will be employed there again this summer, and said she wants to run for office one day.

In the meantime, Sanita, like any teenager, is looking forward to summer — and everything that comes with it.

And Sanita is your typical Rhode Island 19-year-old. So much so, her Instagram account, with a brawny 1,588 followers, is aptly called “The Rhode Island Girl.”

“I like going to to get ‘fro-yo,’ hanging out with friends and family and going to the pool two houses down,” said Sanita.

And in the meantime, getting ready for prom.