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Dale G. Young / The Detroit News
Whitney Kropp was named to the homecoming court as a joke by her classmates, but the tiny farm town of West Branch, Mich., has rallied around her.
A tiny farming town in Michigan is rallying around a 16-year-old girl who was voted to be on a high school homecoming court as part of a prank. Local businesses are picking up the tab for her special night, while a neighbor started a Facebook support page.
"It’s been overwhelming," Bernice Kropp told NBC News on Monday. Her daughter, Whitney Kropp, is at the center of the controversy at West Branch’s Ogemaw Heights High School, north of Saginaw.
Kropp said Whitney was humiliated when she learned Sept. 13 that her selection to the homecoming court had been part of a joke. She said students pointed at her in the hallways and laughed, and the boy who was picked with her withdrew.
"She was getting ridiculed in school and on Facebook," Kropp said.
"But then," Kropp added, "other kids started coming up to her and saying, 'Whitney, don’t let them stop you from going to homecoming. You need to go ahead, you need to do it'."
Kropp said her daughter, a sophomore, had been picked on before at school, but not to the extent of the peer vote that selects popular students to the court, which traditionally names a queen, king and princes and princesses from each class. The high school has about 800 students.
"I thought I wasn't worthy. I was this big old joke," Whitney told The Detroit News.
Dan Cwayna, the superintendent of the West Branch-Rose City School District, told NBC News he is aware of the situation. “I do not have much to add at this time,” he said, adding “I am hesitant to say anything out of privacy and concerns for the student involved.”
Kropp described her daughter as quiet, polite and kind, rarely finding fault with peers and people. Kropp said Whitney has a date for the dance this Saturday, "and it’s her boyfriend who has been very quiet and supportive through all of this."
"You want to protect your kid, and you feel angry and mad at what has happened, but at the same time the outpouring to help her has been beyond expected," Kropp said.
Word spread quickly through the community of about 2,100 residents in West Branch. Resident Jamie Kline started a Facebook support page, gaining more than 4,000 likes in Michigan and nationwide. Personal stories of bullying and messages of encouragement filled the page, among them:
"You go, girl! From here in California, it looks like you won the vote legitimately but some of your "friends" got jealous and nasty about it. Their "joke" never really happened! Hold your head high and have a good time," Raymond Puffer.
"Whitney YOU are a beautiful gal inside and out and dont ever let anyone tell you any different,” Karen Morrison Gross.
"I am so proud of this young lady ((((You GO, Girl))))), her family and the awesome community we share! It's high time we ALL take a stand against bullies. They come in all sizes, ages and social arenas. Be Kind ALWAYS,” Ginger Warren.
Jen Case, who is with Whit’s End Salon in West Branch, said the salon owner donated services to cut, color and style Kropp’s hair. "Bullying is a big thing and we wanted to turn this into a positive moment," Case said.
Other local businesses are paying for Whitney’s dinner, gown, shoes and a tiara for the dance.
"We live in this community and we’re about the community and giving back," Case told NBC News. "We wanted to help this young lady have a special night."
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the only joke here is that this is in the news.
yeah! i'd rather read a story about the urge to constantly urinate
Unfortunately, its an age old way of teasing someone is to compliment them, make them feel good and then snicker about it. I don't get it either. I was teased in grade school. I had braces and a terrible haircut and acne. Boys would ask me out on dates and then laugh and say "you didn't think I was serious, did you?" It very much screwed me up and made it very difficult for me to accept a compliment because I was always afraid they were really making fun of me or laughing behind my back...
fast forward to me being 22... blonde haired, blue eyed, skinny, decent sized boobs, beautiful straight teeth, and the bassist in a band.... ran into that jock boy that used to fake "ask me out" and then laugh. The look on his face was priceless, and then he said: "hey, its been so long, how are you? we should totally go out sometime"... I laughed in his face.
Sorry you had to go thru that. I was bullied in school. Girls in my class told me I looked like 'Barbie' and loved to do make up on me, but then others would demean me, bully me, and just make me feel like sh** . I thought I was the ugliest, most invisible, person on the planet. The kid across the street use to sing the song from the Flatsy Doll every time he saw me....you know, "Flatsy, Flatsy, she's flat and thats that" or something to that affect. I still hate him and when I remember his name I will put it online for his daughters to see. He was short then and I hope he still is. My boobs never did come in til after I had a kid at 37 but I turned lots of heads walking thru the airport in my mini skirt, long blond hair, and lean, long legs. Yet I still feel like that ugly insignificant bug. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO CRUEL?
For the people who are wondering where the joke is, you need to be from a small farming community to understand. You do not get to choose who your friends are and in what clique you are placed. That is decided for you based on who your parents (and probably your grandparents) were and what your parents do. You will never have the opportunity to outpace your genetics unless you turn out to be a great athlete. So yes, while to all outward appearances and to we adults this girl looks like a cute little blond with no overt reason to be picked on, I am willing to bet she is "from the wrong side of town", a newcomer, a child of "questionable parentage", or she is from a low income home - possibly all of the above. West Branch area is home to a prison, and it's even possible her father is incarcerated. Trust me, while I did not grow up in West Branch, I grew up in a very similar small Northern Michigan town. Work hard, get good grades, and get the hell out of Dodge. I left on a 4 year scholarship when I was 17 and never looked back. I miss no one. Eventually, she will figure out that although these people suck, they have helped meld her determination that will hopefully result in a long happy life away from narrow minded idiots. She will appreciate the friends she gets to choose in college all the more.
I can attest to that. I grew up in a small town in Illinois. Back in the early 90s when they still had in-school elementary basketball and cheer leading squads. I was the only girl not placed on a cheer leading squad because my mother had been hated in high school. So glad we moved away when I was in 5th grade. I would hate to think what my later years in school there would have been like. As it was, they weren't great to begin with.
How could such a beautiful girl not be a part of the homecoming queen court? If I visited this school I better see a bunch of show-model kids because if she is considered a joke I don't know what a joke is!!! I pray she hold her head up high and have a great time. She deserves it as much as anybody else!
Because bullies do not only pick on ugly kids?
These a-hole kids need to watch Carrie. Just like how Sissy Spacek was far more beautiful than any of her peers, so is Whitney.
Especially in the end ; I nearly jumped out of my seat.
Sandy is right, anyone associated with the prank should be banned from attending the prom.
Whitney, you sound like a great person and really are the princess in this whole situation. Live and learn. Go out and have a great time Whitney!
It was a pretty bad joke. I'm guessing they were trying to make her feel embrassed after she just found out that she was on the court by laughing at her. To me it sounds more like kids were jealous that the shy, quiet girl beat out the more popular girls and they tried to make her feel bad for winning. Hopefully the new attention this is bringing her won't make it worse. Nothing is worse for any high schooler than drawing more attention like this. Especially girls. They can get pretty nasty and jealous. I saw some terrifying girl fights in my time at high school.
Next thing you know there will be some fund set up for people who feel sorry for her to donate money towards her future. How stupid that ONE not very significant incident at one high school can draw so much media and internet attention. Cruel and unfair things happen to people EVERY DAY, so just get over it already! Unfortunately, THAT'S LIFE.
You don't get it philby1. there's not a damn thing wrong with how this turned out....it displays the kindness and compassion of people to stand by a human being hurt by others. Yes, unfair things happen to people everyday, that doesn't negate the kindness of others to want to help another human being. If it's never happened to you, and you're a miserable, pathetic person seeing the dark side and whining about everything, then you're to be pitied...however I wouldn't waste my time feeling sorry for you.
Come to Texas, Honey. We don't take kindly to bullies.
philby1 was a bully. Now washes cars & mows lawns for a living...
catgoddess, so sorry to see (NOT!) you don't approve of me me not caring to your satisfaction about everyone crying over some high school kid who got bullied and made fun of. DON'T YOU IMAGINE THERE ARE MANY MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES IN LIFE TO BE CONCENED ABOUT? How about starving, homeless people in America or the rest of the world. How about the environment? If people put a fraction of the effort into solving real problems that they do on trivial sensationalist crap maybe we would start moving towards some real improvement in this world.
I'm sure I agree that to this girl it is not a trivial situation, but should it concern thousands or tens of thousands of people and warrant national media attention? I don't think so!
To all you others saying I'm a bully, you haven't a clue. Y'all can get back to yer Jerry Springer shows now!
Seriously philby1? Of course there are more serious issues in the world. This is a HUMAN INTEREST piece. All news sources run them. If you don't like them, don't read them. It's really that simple.
Well the joke backfired she won. There should be no hard feelings, if she would have lost then I would feel bad.
Stories of bullying drive me insane. I am ill when I hear about them. I hope that after the dance, this young lady does not pay any price from the punks at school for this.
Good luck.
If I could find out how, I would donate to the fund that is going to help her have a truly wonderful prom. shame on the other stupidly conceited and disgusting kids who played this joke on her. Hooray for her and the community members who stood their ground and made this turn out for the better anyway!
I really don't see what the joke is here. For one, SHE'S on the court, and not any of the pranksters. Therefore, she actually has a chance to win, and they don't. And second, the prank is actually giving her a free ride, so to speak, because local businesses are paying for everything, while everyone else has to use their own money. Looks like the jokes on them, not her.
Kids can be so mean! Adults should stand up and say its not right! Bullies need to be put in their place. The young lady is very pretty and valuable. I hope she knows that!
Are you kidding me? This is news worthy? Who the hell cares? High School drama that fades 10 minutes after your gone.
It's this teasing and bullying that can lead into a Columbine affair. Good thing she has risen above it, but others may not. Homecoming is a bunch of crap anyways.
O.k., so i'm looking at this beautiful young lady and fail to see where these A$$ Hats find a joke. Whitney, listen to me for some excellent advice. If you want the ultimate last laugh on these idiots, this is what you need to do. Graduate from highschool (with honors is also exceptable, but not needed) then graduate from college, get a fantastic great paying job, keep yourself healthy and looking beautiful, then show up to your first high school reunion and embarrass the hell out of those jerks that don't even have the balls to show their faces at the reunion due to the fact that they turned out as loosers. This happens at everyones class reunions, so we all know this for a fact. Good luck in life.
College is not for everyone.
All of this kind of thing continues to go on because we don't care enough to do something about. I know all about "politics" with the heads of the schools, the "so they think power" parents. If we all cared enough, we could end this. We need to be more vocal. When kids are being jerks, their parents need to be held accountable also, since they are ususally the reason their kid is that way to begin with. There is a kid in the school across the street from me who is bullied beyond belief. No one will stand up to anyone. I don't even have children, but went to the principal and contacted the superintendent of all the schools and got the ball rolling. Of course, the parents are angry because they are embarassed. Too damn bad. Our kids are only as nasty as we allow them to be.
Whitney, you are a lovely young lady, and now the world knows it too. Have a wonderful time at homecoming.
The school should deal with these students SEVERELY, AND they should NOT be able to attend. Perhaps they would learn a lesson, because apparently they have not been taught morals at home!
f'em and feed them fish heads..GO WHITNEY...be an independent gal ...maybe that school has a BIG enough BOY that matches up to you! Not to bully the bullies or mean folks but that is truly awful..sick puppies.
Nice to see there are still some decent people out there.
I received some bullying in school but now as an adult those kids ,some which are my friends but when they did this stuff I laughed it off and they thought I was cool for that I just made some smart ass remark back and kept going
whitney, haters gonna hate, and those same haters will make nothing of their lives and most likely become jokes themselves.you are a beautiful young lady of course your different from them you are polite quiet and respecting. kudos to your parents for raising a well mannered young lady. you have my vote for queen dont let them get you down use it as motivation.Best wishes from wisconsin!!
The joke is that she was voted in as a joke and then humiliated at school. Who knows really how many votes were real or what were joke votes the fact is that she was ridiculed about it making the whole experience no longer a fun or a positive one. At my high school we voted on who was going to be in the homecoming court and then who was going to be the winner, that wasn't much fun. When it came to prom the teachers nominated who they thought should be the prom king or the prom queen that year based on the way that they acted at school and we did not find out who was nominated until the week of and we voted on the night of prom. that was way more exciting and fun because even in the end if the winner was the most popular you knew that they were nominated because of merit and not because they were most popular. it allowed for people who otherwise would never be nominated to be nominated and the teachers thought about it for a month before hand and no one ever complained because what was there to complain about. but this is a harsh reality that parents need to actually parent their children and not just brush off bullying as kids being kids. yes there are instances when it is kids just being kids but there are times when an adult needs to step in and say enough is enough this is wrong and actually punish their children and not wait for the school to do so. teachers are not your children's parents you are.
Those kids must have never seen Carrie.
Hold those students as well as the school officials responsible. Keep those students responsible from attending the prom. I'm sure there's a law suit awaiting on the behalf of this unfortunate student. School officials, are they not responsible for the welfare of our children.
Right! It is the school's fault that kids prank and bully! Come on! This has been going on since the beginning of time! Who wasn't bullied at some point in their school career? And, it is all kids - attractive ones - skinny ones - fat ones - tall ones - short ones - who get bullied. The list goes on and on.
Guess what? It goes on in adulthood too! But, as an adult they go behind your back at work, they try to get you fired, they try to brown-nose the boss so they will have more attention. These people never do grow up. All of us who have been bullied grow up from it and learn compassion and understanding.