Talented student inspires a school

RIVERTON — Megan Rees might be the most sought-after student at Riverton High.

She's been featured on The Early Show segment "Saturday Spotlight" on CBS.

Peers voted her homecoming queen.

People nationwide write her letters.

Colleges and universities recruit her.

Adults seek to commission her paintings.

First lady Mary Kaye Huntsman has made her a teen-mentoring ambassador.

These accomplishments are impressive for any high school student.

But 17-year-old Rees is not your typical girl.

Rees has cerebral palsy. But her abilities shine through her disability. Those who know her say that sets an example for others, able-bodied and disabled alike, to follow.

"I think she's made an awareness in the school itself, and probably in the community, that just because someone's in a wheelchair, their mental capacity is not diminished at all. She's very smart, very bright, very cheerful," said Stephanie Galley, one of Rees' special education aides at Riverton High.

"I think that gives (students with disabilities) courage. I know the other kids at the school look up to her. They look at Megan and realize, if she can do it, I can do it. They realize it's not hopeless, you don't have to give up, and whatever problems or things you run into on a day-to-day basis, nothing can come close to what she has to go through."

Cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive abnormality of the part of the brain that controls muscle tone, affecting a person's movements and ability to maintain balance and posture, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

Symptoms vary. Some might not be able to walk or speak and need lifelong care, whereas a person with mild cerebral palsy might walk awkwardly but not need special help.

The diagnosis for the youngest of George and Vonna Rees' three children was difficult, her father said.

"The first years, we lived in denial, thinking she would grow out of it," he said, adding the family eventually moved from a multi-level house in Park City to a wheelchair-accessible one in Riverton.

"We realized . . . she wasn't going to get better. She was going to adapt."

And adapt she did — beyond expectations.

Doctors used to say Rees would never talk.

But when a special communication computer became more frustration than help, Rees says she decided she would learn to speak.

She no longer needs a speech therapist, Riverton High special education aide Nina Chapman said.