Taylor Swift Gives $10,000 To Deaf School Disqualified From Contest
Oct. 2 2012, Published 10:00 a.m. ET
By Debbie Emery - RadarOnline.com Reporter
Taylor Swift is causing a stir once again in Massachusetts, but this time Conor Kennedy isn't the cause!
The country singer is at the center of a prank played on a school for the deaf after its pupils were the unlikely entrants in a contest to have Swift perform at the school, reported the Boston Globe.
Web community 4chan sparked a poster campaign to have the Horace Mann School For The Deaf in Allston, Massachusetts, win the honor of "hearing" the 22-year-old sing hits about her bitter past break-ups, like Dear John or We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again.
While some may say it is a blessing that they couldn't hear the country crooner, the students rallied around the contest and got such an outpouring of support that they went on to win by a big margin.
Despite the spoof origins of the entry, principal Jeremiah Ford told the Globe that he didn't mind the "mean-spirited" impetus behind the votes and his students "love live music."
But when the top five schools were announced, Horace Mann had a mysteriously vanished from the list of finalists because sponsors Papa John's and the textbook rental company Chegg didn't approve of the way the school "got its votes."
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Rather than shun the school completely, Taylor has decided to give them a personal donation of $10,000, which was matched by the two sponsor companies, as well as Cover Girl and American Greetings. VH1’s Save the Music program will also donate $10,000 of instruments for the kids.
As for meeting the young idol, Swift says that every student at Horace Mann will get a ticket to her next local show. “Are we the winner? Absolutely,” said the school principal.