Special prom surprise for Bemidji couple thanks to students' write-in campaign
The winners of the best classmates of the year award goes to Bemidji High School, whose students organized a very special prom for one popular couple.
Students secretly ran a write-in campaign so Sophie Jurek and Johnny Anderson, who both have Down syndrome, would be named the prom queen and king for the "Picture Perfect" themed event at the Sanford Center, the Bemidji Pioneer reports.
It was truly a night to remember for the 19-year-old seniors, with Jurek's father Mark telling the newspaper: "We are just so proud; proud of all the students, they are just all unbelievable."
"When they were brought up on stage, and they got their crowns, and you can see all the other kids clapping and you can see it in their faces, it was really heartfelt," he added.
Many of the students ran the campaign via Twitter, and it paid of spectacularly in front of 350 students in attendance, with the couple none-the-wiser about the surprise.
Anderson's mother Suzi told KARE 11 she couldn't believe what the students had done, but said her son had quickly fit in after they moved to the city less than a year ago.
"I was like, 'Are you kidding me?;" she told the news station. "Of course, we all had to call him the king when he got home."
The school has told the couple they will be allowed to keep their crowns, unlike previous winners who had to return them, reports say.