Missouri high school crowns teen with Down syndrome homecoming queen

While not all of the news surrounding high school homecomings has been positive, the announcement of this year’s Park Hill South homecoming queen was a happy, albeit tearful, one.

The crowd in the stands at the Kansas City, Missouri, high school cheered on 19-year-old Allyssa Brubeck as she took the top prize on the field during the ceremony. The crowning was a first for Park Hill South as Allyssa is the first teen with Down syndrome to win the top prize.

Practicing inclusion, Allyssa has flourished among her peers at the high school, even cheering on the varsity cheerleading squad. Though the benefits of including kids and teens who require special education in the regular classroom are numerous, many schools have failed to do so since the practice requires a complete overhaul of the school system.

Yet, if moments like Allyssa’s crowning can be made possible by including teens with disabilities in the classroom, isn’t that proof enough that inclusion works, as the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City wrote in a Facebook post?

Watch Allyssa and her family recount her shining moment in the video below.