BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – Two extraordinary students were crowned Prom King and Queen Saturday night at the Blue Springs High School Prom at Westin Crown Center in Kansas City.
It was no shock when Lauren Anderson and Joe Malone were crowned king and queen, but what happened next really shocked everyone who witnessed it.
Lauren, who is active in music and church and plans to study music ministry at Southern Baptist University in the fall, and Joe, a coach for Special Olympics who tells his teachers he ‘loves to learn,’ handed their crowns over to two special needs students.
Whitney Bowlin, 20 and Brent Roberts, 19, were the lucky recipients.
“For Joe and Lauren, It’s an honor to be chosen,” said Blue Springs Student Council Advisor Linda Krehbiel. “Yet, these two extremely selfless students chose to give up their crowns. They provided these two special students with a recognition that made them feel extraordinary!”
Joe says he felt like two of his Special Olympics athletes really deserved the crowns more than he did, so he decided several weeks before the prom he would give up his crown if he won.
“I’ve known Brent since middle school,” Joe said in a joint interview with Lauren on the phone Tuesday. “They’re both just so positive all the time, always smiling, always have something nice to say.”
He told Laura about his idea after nominations and she says she was quick to sign on.
“I thought it was just a great idea,” Lauren said. “Anything you can do to brighten someone’s day.”
Joe says Whitney was ecstatic to hear she was the Prom Queen and ran around the stage saying “I’m the Prom Queen! I’m the Prom Queen!”
Brent, who cannot speak, came on stage and gave Joe the “classic Brent” greeting, two slaps on the shoulder and a “friendly” slap on the cheek.
Lauren says while she didn’t know Whitney or Brent well, she has had nothing but positive experiences with the special needs students at her school.
“They’re always so nice and loving and full of life and love,” Lauren said.
English teacher Sara Crump says Lauren is known for her kindness and generosity at school.
“Typically, she invites students she doesn’t know to sit at her lunch table with her friends,” Crump said in an e-mail to NBC Action News.
Crump, also an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has Lauren and Joe in her classroom and says both are exceptional students with “catchy” attitudes.
She calls Joe a “dedicated philanthropist” who never looks on the down side of anything.
“Some of my dual credit students will balk and complain about academic activities assigned, however, Joe never does,” Crump said of her student, who will attend Park University this fall. “He’ll say ‘Thank you, Ms Crump! I love learning!’”
The interesting part, Crump says, is that Joe actually means it.
“Our youth truly do care about each other,” Krehbiel said. “Students such as Joe and Lauren will continue to make a positive difference in our society.”
