Sean C. Morgan
A post he saw online at a soccial media site inspired Sweet Home High School senior Kevin Seiber to give up his spot on the Homecoming Court to a Basic Life Skills student.
Senior Richie Galster ended up winning the spot on the court with princess Rebecca Wooley, whom he has known for about a year.
Their mothers work together and their families spend time together socially. Wooley said she sometimes gives Galster rides to school.
“We’re really, really, really close,” Galster said.
“It seemed like you had a good time last week,” life skills teacher Michael Rolph commented to Galster Monday, as Galster talked to a reporter.
He said the only glitch was that organizers played the wrong song during the coronation assembly on Thursday. He had selected “Let It Go,” from the “Frozen” soundtrack, but it didn’t play.
Seiber said he got the idea of giving his spot away when he saw two girls talking online. They decided they would give their title to another girl if either won queen in their Homecoming selections.
“I got my letter saying I was on the Homecoming Court,” Seiber said, so he checked with Wooley, Activities teacher Chris Hiaasen and student body President Ryan Adams. They all supported his decision.
“It’s one chance to do something, and if I get the chance, why not let them,” Seiber said. “And you can always go out for May Court or something.”
“We brought the information to our class, and we voted for who would win,” Rolph said. The vote ended in a tie between two students, so the class held a runoff, won by Galster, who joined Wooley on the court.
“It was great,” Wooley said. “I’m glad he got to do it with me. I got to help him with everything. I know how much it meant to him, and it meant a lot to him.”
“I nominated (Seiber) for the ESPY Award tonight because he did that,” said Principal Keith Winslow. “He did that totally on his own. If you know Kevin, he didn’t do it for the attention at all. He cared about those kids and giving them the opportunity to do something special.”
It’s one of the best acts of “thinking about other people before yourself” Winslow has seen, and he is proud to say that at his school that kind of thing is happening more and more.