TAYLOR — Two Riverside High School teachers are making students’ dreams of attending special events in the district come true.
Special education teachers Jessica Trescavage and Kaitlin Yngelmo run the Riverside High School Fairy Godmother Boutique. It consists of donated dresses, jewelry and shoes, as well as makeup services, for students attending prom, semiformal and graduation.
Students can try on the attire, and Yngelmo, who is also a certified cosmetologist, does their makeup. They also offer alterations.
They have run the boutique for four years, initially storing the dresses in any available space in the high school. They started storing them in a closet space made of plywood previously used by the school’s drama club two years ago. Trescavage painted the inside pink and added flower accessories this year as a project for Impact: Leadership in Education, a leadership program for educators run by Leadership Northeast.
Yngelmo and Trescavage initially started the boutique when a student of Yngelmo’s told her she was excited about prom but couldn’t afford to attend. Hearing that, Yngelmo said they posted on Facebook asking people for donated dresses. Today, they estimate they have 230 of them.
They said any student at the school can use it, but they send an online form a few months before prom and semiformal for students to fill out with their dress information. Although the boutique is for Riverside students, they have informed neighboring Old Forge School District about it.
“It’s literally our favorite day of the year,” Trescavage said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “We have so much fun. The girls have a great time getting ready.”
This year, word got out about the boutique and they were assisted by a hairstylist and manicurist. They helped nearly 30 students — including boys, girls and students in the life skills class — select attire, and get their hair, makeup and nails done for prom, which took place last week at the Holiday Inn Scranton East–Dunmore. The students either reached out to them, or Trescavage and Yngelmo encouraged them to come.
They especially liked seeing students in the life skills class they helped at the boutique enjoying the prom. Trescavage and Yngelmo said many students have told them they would not have been able to go to the high school’s prom this year if not for their help.
“Some of the students we helped, they would have just stayed on the sidelines for lack of trying because they just didn’t know how to,” Yngelmo said. “In any way that we can get them there, even if it’s just a tie, we all can help out with that.”
They said parents are particularly grateful for their work. Trescavage read a message from a mother during her interview Tuesday telling her how thankful she was to them for helping her daughter go to the prom.
Yngelmo said they help anyone who needs attire for a special event at the school.
“We don’t want you to be in dire financial straits to come to us,” she said. “You could just want to save money because you’re going to college.”
They hope to continue the boutique and have created a list of items people can donate, but are particularly interested in dresses size 16 and up.
Information about donating can be found on the RHS Fairy Godmothers Boutique Facebook page.
Special Ed teachers and founders off the fairy godmother’s boutique Kaitlin Yngelmo and Jessica Trescavage looks through the racks of dresses at Riverside High School in Taylor Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Special Ed teachers and founders off the fairy godmother’s boutique Jessica Trescavage and Kaitlin Yngelmo hold up dresses in the boutique at Riverside High School in Taylor Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Neon signs hang on the wall in the fairy godmother’s boutique at Riverside High School in Taylor Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Shoes are lined up to try on in the fairy godmother’s boutique at Riverside High School Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Special Ed teacher and co-founder of the fairy godmother’s boutique Jessica Trescavage pulls a dress from the boutique’s rack at Riverside High School in Taylor Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)