Midlothian high school honors deceased students as prom king, queen

MIDLOTHIAN, Ill. (WLS) -- Two suburban high school students who died in the last couple years are being honored at Bremen High School in southwest suburban Midlothian.

A few weeks ago, a group of Bremen students started a social media campaign urging the Class of 2017 to vote for Paola Zambrano and Mark Gorman for prom queen and king. Gorman was hit and killed by a car last October. Zambrano passed away two years ago of cancer.

"I thought it was great that our kids were really thinking about their classmates. Sometimes kids don't get enough credit for helping others and thinking about others," said principal David Kibelkis.

When school officials found out about the campaign, they decided to make Zambrano and Gorman honorary prom queen and king.

"(Paola) came to school every single day knowing that there was a good chance that she may not finished high school," said Kibelkis.

Although Zambrano and Gorman won't be at prom physically, their classmates say they will be there in spirit.

"They are going to be looking down on us saying we made them proud. They made us proud," said student Jacob Conway.

For the Zambrano and Gorman's families, they're thankful that their loved ones have not been forgotten.

"He would have been amazed. He would have been astounded," said Jacob Gorman, Mark Gorman's brother.

"I was really surprised that the students here at Bremen would do such a nice thing," said Paola Zambrano's brother, Gerardo Zambrano.

Prom will be held Friday, and the prom court was announced Monday morning. Both Zambrano and Gorman will be honored at graduation.