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homerhorizon.com sports
the Homer Horizon | October 4, 2018 | 37
Entire cheer squad votes Homer girl as homecoming queen
Burros squad selects
Chisholm for honor
Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor
It was hard to miss the
bright smile that formed
from ear to ear, teeth showing
and her cheeks raised so
high they almost closed her
eyes. She stood in front of
the crowd wearing a tiara, a
sash and holding a bouquet
of flowers.
Audrey Chisholm was
happy, and it’s all because of
the 24 girls on the Mokena
Burros eighth-grade cheer
squad.
On Sept. 6, members of
the squad cast their votes on
who they wanted to represent
them as their homecoming
queen. The only ballot
that didn’t have Audrey’s
name circled as a contender
was her own.
“When you get to the
eighth-grade level, this is it,
this is like your final shot at
[homecoming queen], and
just like in a high school
environment, everybody’s
kind of hoping that it’s them,
and for all theses girls to
put their dreams aside for
one cheerleader was really
emotional,” Audrey’s mom,
Jody, said.
Receiving this recognition
for homecoming from her
teammates means more to
the Homer Jr. High eighthgrader
than wearing a tiara
and sash.
“For her, she just wants
to be included, she wants to
have a lot of friends, and for
her, it’s like the ultimate sign
of acceptance,” Jody said.
Audrey has Down syndrome,
but her squad doesn’t
see a disability — they see a
13-year-old girl who loves to
cheer.
“I think that all the girls
love having her on the
team,” coach Christine
O’Donnell said. “I hope she
feels the same way about
them, and I’m really, really
glad that they took it upon
themselves to bestow the
honor of homecoming queen
for her, because I truly think
that that for Audrey, it’s an
experience that I think she’ll
remember for a long, long
time.”
Jody is the team mom for
the eighth-grade squad and
helped count the votes with
the coach during the last
practice before homecoming
on that upcoming Saturday,
Sept. 8. After tallying all of
the votes, she couldn’t believe
her eyes.
“I was speechless,” Joday
said. “There was a knot
in my throat, because I really
couldn’t believe what
they had just done, and this
is not initiated by any of
the coaches, this is initiated
by one cheerleader, Kailey
O’Donnell, and she suggested
[they all vote for Audrey]
in a group chat, and everybody
agreed that that was
what they were going to do.
It’s really remarkable.”
Christine’s daughter, Kailey,
told her mom just days
before they were to vote that
she sent out a text to all of
the girls on the cheer squad
suggesting that it would be
a great opportunity to vote
Audrey as their homecoming
queen. They were all in.
“Every girl on that squad
had voted for Audrey, and so
when we were counting ballots,
it was determined by all
of them because they knew
how important it would be
for Audrey and what a great
experience it would be for
her,” Christine said. “And
you know, sometimes my
girls are wise beyond their
age because my daughter
says, you know, mom, I
think it’s a little bit cool, and
I’d be excited for all of one
day, but Audrey’s going to
be excited for a long time
about this, and this is great.”
Needless to say, Audrey’s
reaction was one of surprise.
Homer Jr. High eighth-grader Audrey Chisholm is all smiles
after she was voted homecoming queen of the Mokena
Burros eighth-grade squad by every member of the team.
Photo submitted
“It made me feel great,”
she said.
Two days after learning
she was queen on Sept. 8,
Audrey was ready to carry
out her duties as queen.
“Homecoming day, holy
smokes, Audrey was so darn
excited,” her mom said.
“She got out of bed early,
which is really hard to do,
and everybody was at the
field by 9 a.m.”
All of the different cheer
squads and football teams
with the Mokena Burros
were celebrating homecoming
at Main Park in Mokena,
with the eighth-graders designating
a king and queen,
and the other age groups
selecting princesses and
princes.
“The wind was blowing,
and it was cold, and the
grounds were so muddy they
called it the mud fest, but it
didn’t matter — everybody
just really still had a great
time, because it was homecoming,
and it’s a completely
different atmosphere; you
know everybody is happy,
tons of people everywhere,”
Jody said.
Throughout the Saturday,
each squad did sideline
cheers for a game, followed
by a homecoming cheer
dance. At halftime, Audrey,
among the princesses, princes
and king, were honored
with their tiaras, sashes and
flowers, respectively.
“It was heartwarming,”
Jody said. “All of the parents
agreed with the decision
[to vote Audrey queen], so
you have 24 sets of parents
and their grandparents there
and friends, and there wasn’t
anybody that would have
walked away and been disappointed
with the decision.
I think even the parents were
really proud of what their
girls had accomplished with
that vote.”
The rest of the day, Audrey
never let go of the bouquet
of flowers she received.
“She walked around with
those flowers until it was
time to get in the car, so she
was really, really proud to
be the homecoming queen,”
Jody said.
Her squad was equally as
happy, taking pictures with
and giving lots of hugs to
Audrey, showing her love
and support.
“And the little boy that
was king, they also told him
to be nice to her or else they
would get a hold of him
and he’d have the wrath of
eighth-grade cheer,” Christine
said. “It was kind of
cute.”
Jody said that even though
Audrey was honored by her
teammates, she wants to
honor those girls who put
aside their dream of being
homecoming queen for her
daughter. She said it’s a relief
to finally see her daughter
accepted for who she is.
“It’s a relief, and there’s so
much joy in seeing her smile
and seeing her fit in and having
these kids accept her as a
friend,” Jody said. “There’s
a difference here, because
it’s not just ‘oh, yeah, we accept
her, we accept that girl
with Down syndrome on our
squad.’ No, they don’t see
Down syndrome when they
see Audrey, they see Audrey.
And I think that’s the
part that warms my heart the
most. She’s not seen for her
disability.”
This is the third year that
Audrey is a cheerleader on
the squad and her coach,
Christine, said that she can’t
imagine the team without
her.
“They’re really good
about helping Audrey,” she
said. “If she needs help with
motions or help with a skill,
they’re all very, very patient
with her, and they’re also
very protective of her. When
we go to competitions, if she
needs to go to the restroom
or wants anything, they are
right there with her. She’s
just an integral part of our
team.”
Audrey has brought a level
of excitement to the team
that Christine said has given
the other cheerleaders a different
perspective on not
taking things for granted that
they may have in the past.
“She’ll step up and say,
‘you got this guys, we’ve got
this, come on, let’s do this,’
and I like that about her,”
Christine said. “I like that
she brings that positive attitude,
even when we’re struggling
with skills or we’re
struggling with tumbling.
And I think that she lightens
the stress load for the rest
of the girls by always being
that positive influence on the
team.”
Christine has been a cheer
coach since 2004 and said
Audrey is the first girl with
Down syndrome that she
has had on her team. She
believes in being accommodating
and accepting of the
differences that people have
but said that just because
Audrey has a disability, it
doesn’t mean she should be
labeled as such.
“Why should Audrey
be labeled for her disability?
Which I don’t consider
Down syndrome a disability,
but I’m sure lots of people
do,” Christine said. “Why
can’t Audrey be labeled as
a 13-year-old girl who just
wants to be a cheerleader?
That’s how we look at Audrey.”