Town rallies around bullied girl after prank Homecoming court nomination

And then she learned that it was a joke. Classmates told her that her popular peers had orchestrated the nomination as a prank. Whitney was devastated. Thinking herself unworthy of such an honor as a legitimate nomination, she contemplated suicide, The Huffington Post reports.

That’s when the town stepped in. When word of the prank spread through the small Michigan community, residents refused to let Whitney be defeated by her school’s bullies. Business owners volunteered to dress Whitney in a stunning red gown, have her hair and nails done and take her out to dinner. Families packed the stands at the Homecoming game, where her name would be announced, so that all she would hear was applause.

Whitney did end up going to Homecoming. On a Facebook page created to support her and all teens being bullied, she wrote, “Going to Homecoming to show them that I’m not a joke. I’m a beautiful person and you shouldn’t mess with me!”

BY BRITTANY TAYLOR ON 9/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

POSTED IN In the News, bullying