<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">It's nice to see the good guys win every once on a while.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Courtesy of WPTV (West Palm Beach, Florida) at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/world/whitney-kropp-homecoming-prank-ogemaw-heights-high-school-bullied-michigan-teen-shines-after-prank">http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/world/whitney-kropp-homecoming-prank-ogemaw-heights-high-school-bullied-michigan-teen-shines-after-prank</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><h1 class="fontStyle51" style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; "><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whitney Kropp homecoming prank, Ogemaw Heights High School: Bullied Michigan teen shines after prank</span></font></h1></div><div><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WEST BRANCH, Michigan (CNN) -- Whitney Kropp, the teen thrust into the spotlight after her peers nominated her for the school homecoming court as a prank, attended coronation Friday night surrounded by cheering fans.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Donning a red dress with a flower perched in her hair, she beamed as she clutched a bouquet of flowers.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I had thoughts about not coming [still tonight]," the 16-year-old told reporters after halftime of the homecoming game.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I just thought maybe I won't have fun, but ... I'm having actually a lot of fun right now."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I'm so happy -- this is so much right now for me," she added.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking to reporters after the halftime ceremonies, Kropp had nothing but praise for her school --- in spite of what a select few students did.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The school is fantastic. They treated me so well here and I couldn't ask for more."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her mother, Bernice Kropp, was all smiles.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I am so proud right now, wow," she said standing alongside her daughter.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When asked whether she had a message for other kids who deal with bullying, the teen said it's important to "not let them bring you down."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Stand up for what you believe in and go with your heart and go with your gut. That's what I did, and look at me now. I'm just as happy as can be!"</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Earlier this month, when she realized the whole thing was a prank, Kropp, a sophomore at Ogemaw Heights High School near West Branch, Michigan, said she became suicidal and felt "like trash."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But thanks to a push from her family and friends, she decided to embrace what happened and turn the tables.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I can just prove all these kids wrong ... I'm not the joke everyone thinks I am," she said Thursday.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The West Branch-Rose City Area Schools superintendent, Dan Cwayna, declined CNN's request for comment.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Opting to stay on the homecoming court was a tough decision, Kropp said. That bold move prompted local businesses to donate her homecoming gown and shoes, and a local hairstylist to give her a new 'do' for the big event.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Every girl looks forward to being on that homecoming court and for her name to be called," said hairstylist Shannon Champagne, who did her hair. "For her to be so excited about that and then just to find out that it was all just a joke, it just --- it really touched me."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Facebook support page created for her has more than 96,000 "likes."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sitting on her front porch in rural Michigan, the teen held her head high with what her mom described as a new and overwhelming sense of confidence.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"It is absolutely awesome to see her stand up," Bernice Kropp said. "And it's so cool to see e-mails ... we're getting from parents and other students from all over the place telling her stories and how it helped them and it touched them. My daughter is out there as an inspiration to a lot of people, and it's a really cool thing."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The teen says the outpouring of support caught her off guard.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I thought before, 'Oh, no one cares about me,''' she said. "I thought not even my own brother and sister care. But they're proving me they do care. The world is proving they do, well not really care about me, but they care about the situation. So I'm happy. I'm really honored."</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In fact, her sister, Alivia Kropp, was the first person to spread the word and encourage her to speak out.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I told her ... you've got the courage, you've got the strength to go do it, so go do it and have fun," she said.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She said the night her sister spent crying was horrible.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"It's very hard to see someone hurt and upset, and you want to do everything in your power to make sure they're not that way," Alivia Kropp said.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Homecoming coronation was at halftime of the football game Friday night. The dance, something she and her boyfriend have been looking forward to all year, is Saturday.</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">---------------</span></p><p style="text-align: -webkit-auto; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whitney Kropp, the teen thrust into the spotlight after her peers nominated her for the school homecoming court as a prank, attended coronation Friday night surrounded by cheering fans.</span></div><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="cid:3CBA3A65-FD0F-4C24-8C4A-283467333624" alt="image.jpeg" id="3CBA3A65-FD0F-4C24-8C4A-283467333624" width="320" height="240"></div></span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">------------------------------------<br><br>Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .<div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares"</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."</div><div><br></div><div>- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)</div><div> </div></div></div></body></html>