GRANDVILLE, Mich. -- Allan Milton of Grandville is using his love of drawing to help get to prom this weekend. Allan has autism and is a senior at Grandville High School. He spends his lunch period making drawings of his classmates and taking donations to help buy his ticket to the dance.
But he didn't stop there.
Allan has helped pay for tickets for all of the other kids with autism as well as their tuxedo rentals.
"He loved to doodle, and he loved to draw on the board, and we noticed it was pretty good," said teacher Dan Jakubowski. "We thought, 'This is great,' and whenever we had kids come into the room -- because we have some general education kids come in our room and help out -- he would draw them, and the kids were just ecstatic. They just loved it."
From there, they came up with the idea to take donations for his drawings to help Allan go to prom. He raised the needed $40 in no time, so he helped buy tickets for the four other guys in his class and rent their tuxedos.
"We have five seniors, and all five of the kids can go to prom this year," said Jakubowski. "I can't wait to see them in their tuxes. They went to Men's Warehouse to try them on, and they looked great."
Jakubowski says there's a line every day of students waiting to have Allan draw them. "He's drawn me, he's drawn my dog, he's drawn me and other people in one picture," said senior Austin Dukesherer. "He's very talented."
Allan doesn't say much, but if you're lucky you'll get your drawing done with a song.
"I think it makes him feel really good about his talent that he has, and it validates him as an artist," said Jakubowski. "You can see they love Allan, being with Allan and his personality. He's going to be very missed next year."
Allan will be attending prom this weekend along with his date. He plans to wear a black tuxedo with a green vest.
