3 cheers for dream come true

TAYLORSVILLE — Rachelle Perkins has long dreamed of becoming a cheerleader. She has some experience in a singing and dancing group and even has checked out cheerleading books from the library, yet never made it through tryouts.

But Thursday, Perkins, who has Down syndrome, was welcomed to the Taylorsville High School squad before nearly 2,000 cheering peers.

Perkins was named an honorary cheerleader at a homecoming pep assembly. There, she received flowers, gifts and most importantly, pompoms and a uniform: critical for her to join the squad that night, cheering on the Warriors at the homecoming football game.

Perkins soaked it all in, waving to her parents and grinning widely with the squad while her mom and dad photographed the moment through tears.

"I'm so happy I'll cry," an emotional Perkins said afterward. "I love my dad, I love my mom, I'm so happy."

Perkins is described as a loving, outgoing, always-smiling straight-A student. The 16-year-old is as much at home chatting with a group of boys on the gym's bleachers as she is complimenting a teacher on her fashion sense.

"Everyone loves her," said varsity cheerleader co-captain Hailey Harris. "A lot of people know her, and everyone's so nice to her."

So when Barbara Black, who works in special education at the school, revealed Perkins' lifelong cheerleading dream, teachers and students alike took action.

"I got thinking, how easy it would be for us just to make a note, just to honor her for being a good student and being such a good person," said cheer coach Chalise Farr, who teaches English and English as a second language.

The idea caught on quickly.

School secretary Kathy Withers, Farr's mom, stitched a cheerleading skirt. A home economics teacher personalized a fleece blanket with gold embroidery. The varsity and junior varsity squads built Perkins a teddy bear, stuffed with 17 hearts — one from each of them — and made an honorary cheerleader shirt.

"It's nice they kind of handed this to us," mother Diane Perkins said. "It's quite an honor."

After Thursday's assembly, Perkins was invited to cheer alongside the squad at the game. She hadn't learned their steps, but Farr wasn't worried. She knew Perkins would be a hit anyway.

"If she's down there doing her own thing the whole time — and that's her personality — we think that's fine," Farr said.

Perkins' dad, Tom, says the gesture marked the day his little girl's dream came true.

"This is the greatest thing that could happen to her," he said. "It's good not just for her, but for everyone with a disability. While the whole school seems to be behind what's going on, other kids with disabilities are going to see that and go, 'Wow, I can do this too."'

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com