Ivanhoe Elementary School principal Heather Anderson, right, receives an invitation from her husband to the prom in Minneota as students watched.

IVANHOE — Heather Anderson had no idea what she might find when she hurried to the Ivanhoe Elementary School gym Friday morning.

What she discovered turned out to be something she never would have guessed.

As Ivanhoe Elementary’s principal, Anderson received a call from one of her teachers shortly before 10:30 a.m. telling her to come to the gym as soon as possible. She expected an emergency, that most likely a student had sustained an injury.

“I was just in the middle of a normal routine in the office,” Anderson said on Monday. “All I knew was I needed to get to the gym. I thought it must be a bad situation and did what I could to prepare myself.”

She found the head custodian in the hallway, which didn’t surprise her, and asked him to come along. Her administrative assistant was in the hallway also, but that wasn’t unusual enough to be taken as a clue that a surprise was taking shape.

It only began to materialize when she entered the gym. The entire school, every student in grades pre-K-6 and their teachers, were seated on the floor in front of the stage. When she walked in, all of them looked at her with smiling faces.

“I didn’t know what to think at that point,” Anderson said. “I thought I’d have been told if there was going to be an assembly.”

The smiles told her that it was something she’d like. Her husband, Jerry, then walked out onto the stage carrying three roses. He thanked the audience for always welcoming him when he’s visited the school and for being part of the plans for the assembly.

The whole school then asked her the question “Will you go to the prom with Jerry?” They were referring to the prom to be held this spring in Minneota for high school students from both the Minneota and Ivanhoe school districts, which operate a pairing agreement for grades 7-12.

Heather’s response to everyone was an immediate enthusiastic “yes.” It will be Heather and Jerry’s third prom as a couple. Two of the roses symbolized their own high school proms, while the third represents the one they’ll attend in 2019.

“He planned it down to the last detail,” she said. “I was so thankful that everything was OK, and then to have such a nice surprise. My heart still races a little when I think about it.”

Their first two proms were also held in Minneota. They were classmates who graduated from Minneota High School in 2002, and had been dating since their freshman year.

Heather said their junior and senior proms were held at the school, whereas the 2019 prom will feature dinner at the Bethel Fellowship Church followed by a dance at the Minneota Legion.

The school assembly also reflected how prom invitations are often much more elaborate these days.

Along with the roses, a video was created to commemorate the event with live footage.

“I remembered afterwards how we’d talked about this year’s prom earlier in the winter,” Heather said. “I mentioned that we didn’t used to do some of the things (like roses and a video) that they’re doing now. I think that’s where he got the idea.”

She said Jerry explained later that another reason for the surprise was how he always notices that she’s happy getting ready for school and during events which he’s been part of as a guest.

He enlisted Ivanhoe Elementary fourth-grade teacher Brittany Panka to coordinate the logistics. Panka arranged for all of the teachers to explain to classes how they were going to help with the surprise, instruct them about reciting the invitation as a group, and get them to the gym unannounced no later than 10:27.

“All of the kids helped to keep it a secret,” Panka said. “We weren’t sure it would work. If the pre-K or kindergarten students would have practiced ‘will you go to the prom with Jerry’ out loud before the assembly, she might have heard them and caught on.”

Instead, the plan worked both in terms of making the invitation a surprise and for informing younger elementary children about why prom is a special occasion for many teenagers.

“They were excited to be part of it,” Panka said. “They wanted to know about prom and why it’s important. Jerry made it a great activity for all of us. It was really sweet.”