A Cheerleader With Down Syndrome Was Bullied During a Basketball Game. Until the Team Noticed.
Desiree Andrews is an eighth-grader and cheerleader at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She loves to cheer for her school’s basketball team, but during a recent game, an audience member started bullying Andrews, who has Down syndrome, TMJ 4 News reported. When a few of the basketball team members noticed what was going on, they walked off the court mid-game to stand up for her.
Chase Vazquez, Miles Rodriguez and Scooter Terrain, members of the Lincoln Middle School basketball team, confronted the bully and asked him to stop. “It’s not fair when other people get treated wrong because we’re all the same,” Scooter said in the video below.
In addition to having three brand new friends to spend time with at school, Desiree is also the school gym’s new namesake. The basketball team and other students nicknamed their home gym “Dee’s House,” and the school athletic director plans to put the name on an official banner.
The Kenosha city council plans to give citizenship awards to Chase, Miles and Scooter next week, and the students are under consideration for the Mayor’s Youth Award, according to TMJ 4 News.
Hear what Desiree and the boys have to say after the game in the inspiring video below.
h/t Mashable
Rachel Kassenbrock is an Associate Editor at The Mighty. She recently graduated from the College of Wooster with a degree in English, and has previously written for the Ms. magazine blog and LifeinLA.com. She now lives in Los Angeles where she enjoys live music, being outside and all things coffee-related. You can follow her at @rkassenbrock or email her at rachel@themighty.com.
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