“The idea came to me when I was at pre-prom last year to see my sister off, and I was talking to a kid that was going,”
“At the time I was thinking about what girl I wanted to ask, and he said, ‘Who are you going to ask? Justin Bieber?’ I thought it was a good idea because I admire him and all he’s accomplished for being so young. I’ve been a fan ever since his YouTube days.”
In order for the video to garner more than the 73,000 views it already has — and potentially draw attention from Bieber and his management team — Leon and his classmates decided it would have to become a trending topic on Twitter. After he presented the idea to his teachers and peers, a committee was formed to promote the topic.Basically, if enough people tweet or re-tweet #GuyAsksJustinBieberToPromOnYouTube on the Trending Day — Dec. 27 beginning at 12:10 a.m. — the tweet could become a trending topic and garner more media attention. “My idea to get a response is to make it one of the 10 worldwide trending topics,” said Leon. “If it becomes a trending topic, everyone — even celebrities — will be able to see it.”
To accomplish this goal, Leon and a committee of his peers are wearing shirts, posting flyers and signing banners to promote Trending Day.He Said:“Everyone knows who Justin Bieber is, and this is definitely a different situation because he doesn’t have as many guy fans as girls,”. “I believe he deserves to be around normal kids, And, a lot of people say nothing ever happens here at Glassboro, so this would bring some excitement and something to look forward to. I’ve worked really hard, the committee is working really hard and I think we’ll be successful.”
Ian Aubry, 16, designed the banners, flyers and “Never Say Never” T-shirts for the committee.
“Leon’s my friend, and I thought it was a good idea too,” said Ian. “I think people are supporting him about this even if they’re not huge Justin Bieber fans themselves. For the shirts, they had to be a simple text design and a low price, so I just created them in Photoshop and then sent them to the screen-printing place.”
Ian said he’s pretty confident the message will at least get to Bieber because Leon already has so many Twitter followers and YouTube viewers.
Another committee member — Danae Pinkney, 16 — shares that confidence.
“We’ve had a lot of different ideas,” said Danae. “Leon really loves Justin Bieber and, as one of his peers, I just wanted to help him out in achieving his dream. I like some of his music, even though I’m not his biggest fan, and I think it would be a really different experience for everyone.”
Committee advisor and GHS French teacher Anne-Sophie Kruse advised the students to reach out to people beyond the school.
“The more you can talk to adults and explain how to create Twitter accounts, the more we can spread the news,” said Kruse.
Kruse said the students plan to wear their shirts throughout the community to draw more attention to Trending Day.
“Kids in all the grades and teachers have been really supportive,” said Kruse. “I think it’s interesting in this school to see how many people have shown that support. I don’t know if you’d find that in every school district.”
Leon’s sister, Ashley, 18, said she’d support her brother in any endeavor.
“I know he’s gotten a lot of ridicule for this in the past, but I believe he can do anything he puts his mind to,” said Ashley.
“I feel good about it, and I support him 100 percent,” added Leon’s mom, Denise Purvis. “Things do happen, you never know.”
In addition to his YouTube video, which can be found by searching “Guy asks Justin Bieber to prom,” Leon also recently did an interview on Roadrunner Radio in San Antonio. He remains optimistic and is thrilled to have the support of his peers.
“We hope it gets some attention,” said Leon. “It’s not often you see a guy fan wanting to meet Justin Bieber.”
