Gavin Henkel, a senior at A+ Charter School, set standards high when he asked Anlony Rojas, his girlfriend of 11 months, to prom.  

When the school announced a “prom-posal” contest to win free tickets, Gavin put his creativity to the test. 

“I kind of instantly knew that I had to win,” Gavin said. 

His initial thoughts included flying a plane overhead, but quickly realized that was outside of his price range. 

After brainstorming with his friends and family, Gavin decided to use an electronic construction sign to pop the question. 

With the help of his parents, the sign was propped up in the school parking lot, reading, “Anlony Rojas, will you go to prom with me?? Yes/no.” 

Electronic sign for Gavin Henkel’s prom-posal. [submitted photo]
And on the morning of April 20, Gavin made his way toward the sign while Anlony was called out of her class.  

“She didn’t even make it from the step before she started yelling across the parking lot,” Gavin’s mom, Jackie Henkel said. 

With heads poking through windows and students coming onto the lot, the prom-posal made quite an impression.  

But Gavin was only concerned with Anlony’s response — and she said yes without hesitation.  

“Honestly, I was just so surprised that even happened to me,” Anlony said. “I definitely was not expecting it at all.”  

Gavin was confident in his approach, considering the couple already has coordinating red outfits ready for the big dance on April 28. 

“I knew she wasn’t going to say no,” Gavin said. “It was kind of the cherry on top of everything.”  

Since A+ Charter’s opening in 2020, this will be the first graduating class in the school’s history and its first senior prom.  

It’s a big year for the school, Jackie said. And Gavin and Anlony are excited to hit the dance floor.