Desiree Andrews is a cheerleader at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She’s in eighth grade and has Down syndrome. She is happy, outgoing and loves being involved in school activities. At a recent basketball game, however, some kids in the stands began heckling her and calling out to her while she was performing.
Three members of the basketball team heard the verbal abuse and did something about it. They stopped the game, walked off the court, and confronted the harassers. “The kids in the audience were picking on Dee, So we all stepped forward,” said Chase Vazquez, Lincoln Middle School basketball player.
“It’s not fair when other people get treated wrong because we’re all the same. We’re all created the same. God made us the same way,” basketball player Scooter Terrien told WTMJ-TV.
Desiree has three new friends now, and you can often find them walking her to class. The boys played their last game in the gym this week, and they have affectionately nick-named the gym “Dee’s House”. It’s a new tradition that the athletic director plans on keeping even after the kids leave for High School next year. They’ve even created a banner.
It’s nice to know there are good young men like this being examples to their peers!
