{"id":331179,"date":"2025-05-13T14:47:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=331179"},"modified":"2025-05-13T14:23:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:23:26","slug":"ohio-high-schooler-down-syndrome-prom-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ohio-high-schooler-down-syndrome-prom-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio high schooler with Down syndrome crowned prom king"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Drew Schroeder has Down syndrome, but he hasn&#8217;t let his diagnosis stand in the way of forming relationships with his classmates. Fox 8 <a href=\"https:\/\/fox8.com\/news\/midview-senior-with-down-syndrome-voted-as-prom-king\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a> that the 19-year-old high schooler is so popular that he was elected prom king at Midview High School in Columbia Station, Ohio, on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The news station first reported <a href=\"https:\/\/fox8.com\/news\/local-high-schooler-with-down-syndrome-nominated-prom-king-by-classmates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last week<\/a> that Schroeder&#8217;s classmates campaigned for him to be nominated for prom king \u2014 an honor typically reserved for a football player \u2014 by creating t-shirts, signs, and posters placed online and around the school.<\/p>\n<p>Though Schroeder&#8217;s speech is limited, he is able to communicate via an AAC device. He expressed his gratitude for the support of his friends, saying, \u201cI am very thankful for my buddies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"nxs-video-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/redir1.fox8.com\/nxs-video-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\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-frame-src=\"10706066\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Saturday evening, the hard work of campaigning paid off, as Schroeder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/midview-senior-down-syndrome-voted-025307576.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was elected<\/a> prom king in front of a large cheering crowd of his classmates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like everything. He\u2019s earned it. He\u2019s made so many people\u2019s days for his whole life,\u201d his friend Ashton Johnson told <a href=\"https:\/\/fox8.com\/news\/midview-senior-with-down-syndrome-voted-as-prom-king\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single day, you see him in the hall, he comes up to you and gives you a big hug. He\u2019s always dancing, always smiling. He\u2019s just a happy kid,\u201d added Cameron West.<\/p>\n<p>According to Schroeder&#8217;s intervention specialist Katie Hicks, he has had a lot to overcome in the past several years, including two surgeries to remove a softball-size tumor from his spine \u2014 procedures which left him needing to learn to walk all over again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrew has overcome a lot of different challenges in his life, medically, academically, but has always overcome them,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He has strong resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The positive impact Schroeder has on his friends and schoolmates is a reminder that though Down syndrome is often portrayed as a disadvantage \u2014 so much so that parents are often pressured to abort \u2014 people living with Down syndrome have the ability to experience joy and leave a lasting impression, just like everyone else.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/actnow.io\/G3Bhv6M\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-325597\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1-700x251.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1-700x251.png 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1-300x107.png 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1-768x275.png 768w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1-500x179.png 500w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LA25DefundPP_EmailBannerAd-02-1.png 1167w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drew Schroeder has Down syndrome, but he hasn&#8217;t let his diagnosis stand in the way of forming relationships with his classmates. Fox 8 reports that the 19-year-old high schooler is so popular that he was elected prom king at Midview High School in Columbia Station, Ohio, on Saturday. The news station first reported last week [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":331193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ohio high schooler with Down syndrome crowned prom king<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s like everything. He\u2019s earned it. 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