You shall go to the prom! Bullied teen who was saved by kindness of town after cruel prank shows off her new hair ahead of big night

Whitney Kropp, 16, elected to homecoming court earlier this month - only to find out it had been a prank by popular students

Facebook page set up in support of sophomore, and donations pour in for her hair, make-up and a dress for the homecoming dance tonight

More than 1,000 showed up at homecoming game last night to support her



'The kids that are bullying you, do not let them bring you down,' Whitney said after ceremony

A Michigan sophomore beamed last night as she faced the bullies who voted her to the homecoming court as a sick joke.

After initially planning to skip the celebrations, Whitney Kropp, 16, bravely walked out onto the field during Ogemaw Heights High School's homecoming football game to accept the honour, and more than 1,000 people showed up to support her.

'The kids that are bullying you, do not let them bring you down. Stand up for what you believe in and go with your heart and go with your gut,' Whitney said, shortly after the halftime celebration.

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Beaming: Whitney Kropp, pictured right, waits for last night's homecoming ceremony to begin

Wearing a stunning dress with a white sash, sporting a new hairdo and clutching a bouquet of flowers, the schoolgirl beamed as her fans, many dressed in her favourite colour, orange, cheered her on, chanting 'Whit-ney, Whit-ney,' according to the Detroit News .



A pick up truck carried her and the school's class of 2015 male representative, Josh Awrey, onto the homecoming court where they stood with representatives from other years, and the homecoming king - a senior with Downs Syndrome.

Whitney was initially thrilled to learn that she had been elected to the homecoming court of her sophomore class two weeks ago.

Facing her bullies: Whitney Kropp, left, with male sophomore homecoming representative Josh Awrey, right, stood up to the bullies who pulled the cruel prank on her two weeks ago

Be brave: 'The kids that are bullying you, do not let them bring you down,' Whitney, pictured, said

But her triumph turned to humiliation when she found out from other students that her nomination was nothing but a prank by the popular kids at the school - and she was told that the male student who was elected with her had withdrawn.

She said the prank hit hard and she even considered suicide.

But in an impressive show of support, her community rallied around her.

Local businesses offered to pay for her homecoming dress and shoes, for her to get her hair done, and even to buy her homecoming dance dinner.



A Support Whitney Facebook page has received more than 100,000 likes, after her heartbreaking tale of bullying resonated with hundreds of thousands around the country.

However, she said she was still nervous about gracing the court last night.

Support: Whitney Kropp, left, is escorted by her father, Jason Kropp to the homecoming game ceremony

Fans: More than 1,000 supporters filled the stadium stands with banners and placards supporting Whitney Kropp

Cheering crowd: The whole town showed up at last night's ceremony to show their support with signs and placards, pictured

'I had thoughts about not coming (still tonight),' the 16-year-old said after the ceremony.

But she was glad she built up the courage and is looking forward to the school's dance tonight.

'I just thought maybe I won't have fun, but ... I'm having actually a lot of fun right now. I'm so happy -- this is so much right now for me.'

Speaking to CNN before the event, Whitney's mother Bernice Kropp said she was extremely proud of her new, more confident daughter.

'It is absolutely awesome to see her stand up,' Mrs Kropp said. 'And it's so cool to see emails... 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.'

The suddenly famous teen has received flowers from well-wishers around the country, and has appeared on NBC's 'Today' and CNN broadcasts.

Support: A Support Whitney Facebook page has received more than 100,000 likes, after her heartbreaking tale of bullying resonated with hundreds of thousands around the country

Bullied: Whitney Kropp had been voted to her school's homecoming court but found it was a prank

The family has received offers for book deals and requests to turn the story into a movie.

Being cruelly selected to the West Branch high school's homecoming court as a joke prompted student to pick on Whitney both at school and on Facebook, her mother told NBC .

Whitney admitted she wasn't one of the popular students at Ogemaw, but didn't think her classmates could stoop so low. Yet the bullying became so relentless that she thought about taking her own life.

She told WNEM-TV : 'I had actually reached a point where I had thought about suicide for how bad this case was in. I thought I wasn't worthy at Ogemaw Heights at all.'

'I felt like I wasn’t worthy,' she added on the Today show. 'Why even be a part of this community, this world if I’m just going to be tossed around like basically a piece of trash?'



But the savage bullying was soon overpowered by a tremendous outpouring of support for the teen.

A former student, Jamie Kline set up a Facebook page 'Support Whitney Kropp,' which has shared her story of bullying with more than 100,000 since it was created.



'When we first started doing it, it was obviously meant to hit the Ogemaw Heights community, but once we established that and people started paying attention, we determined the page is here, why not use it for the greater good? Why not work for (combating) bullying in general?' Kline told the Detroit News.



Speaking out: Whitney appeared on the Today show to lambast her bullies and reveal how hurt she had been

Kindess: Donations have helped Kropp pay for her dress, hair and make-up for the dance on Saturday night

For the homecoming dance on Saturday night, businesses will buy her dinner, take her photo, fix her hair and nails, and dress her in a gown, shoes and a tiara, the Detroit News reported.

Shannon Champagne and another beauty salon worker have offered their services to help.

'It really touched me,' Champagne, a nail tech, said. 'I can't believe that kids can be so mean and ruthless. In high school, everything means everything to you. You don't realize that none of it will matter after you leave.'



'I am in awe, overwhelmed at the amount of support,' Kline, 35, told the News. 'I never expected it to spread as far as it has.'

For Whitney, the messages and kind words from the town and complete strangers thousands of miles away is enough to drown out the bullies - and she's now looking forward to the big dance.

Bernice Kropp told WNEM: 'This was something that was really awful, could have ended awful, and because so many people came together, it just turned right around.'

Hurt: The 16-year-old was humiliated to learn that she had been elected in a prank by fellow students

Support: Whitney, second from right, is seen with her sister Olivia, mother Bernice and brother Justin

Whitney recounted to the News how she had been sitting in her geometry class on September 13 when the results of the homecoming vote were announced over the school PA system - to the laughter of some of her fellow classmates.

Despite her surprise, she had been happy that she had been called, her mother said.



'The first thing is softhearted,' Bernice Kropp said when asked to describe her daughter. 'She's just sweet. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body.'



Even when Josh Awrey, a popular football player, quickly withdrew as the other sophomore rep, she was still excited about the news.



'In the Homecoming Court! :)' she wrote on her Facebook page after the announcement. 'Little nervous but this is going to be fun :D'

After the backlash, Awrey decided to remain a class rep, even though he said on his Facebook page that he had never wanted to be part of homecoming.



'Im sick of everyone blaming me,' he wrote. 'I had nothing to do with this. I think what they (students) did is rlly rude and immature.'