Glenn Wilson likes to perform. As someone who loves to sing and dance, it was only natural that he would want to try out for his high school’s cheerleading team.
He says he found out that he made the squad last spring.
“It’s cool,” the 17-year-old told The Columbus Dispatch “I was so excited.”
West High School told Glenn’s family that they would receive a packet of papers with forms to fill out over the summer.
That packet never came.
“I was excited for him because he was so excited about it,” Wilson’s grandmother and guardian Sue Morris said.
Sue began calling the school and the cheerleading coach finally called back.
She was told that Wilson couldn’t be on the team because the didn’t fill out the forms.
She explained that she never received the forms. Sue says that’s when the coach offered Glenn a “manager” position that would help with equipment and water.
“He said ‘No, I want to cheer,‘” Sue said. “I said ‘Well, you heard his answer.’”
When Glenn’s uncle, Ray Valentine, called the coach he claims that the coach said she didn’t have experience with special-needs students.
“My nephew didn’t fit ‘the image’ she wanted for the squad so she removed him. This is just an absolute mess. It is total discrimination,” Ray said according to LADBible.
Even Glenn’s fellow cheerleaders asked the assistant principal to let Glenn be on their team.
The administrator agreed to work with Glenn one-on-one during the squad’s Thursday practices.
“The girls help him out as a team,” Sue said. “They all love him, and he loves being there with them.”
Glenn has been allowed to perform at the school’s football games though the coach allegedly forbade him from attending regular squad trainings.
Glenn has missed about eight cheer practices with the team.
“The only time that he had got to practice with the team was at the actual games,” Sue said.
“He did the cheers just like the rest of the team, and that’s without any squad practices. The kids just love him. During his first game, all the girls on the team hollered and clapped for him. It’s unfair because I’m sure a lot of other children have been discriminated against like he has been. They’ve just had no one to step up to the plate for them,” she said.
Sue ended up reaching out to the school board who said that the school made a mistake.
“He is a full member of that cheerleading team,” school district spokesperson Scott Varner said. “We are looking into the matter to try and understand what had happened.
“There may have been some mistakes that were made and we are trying to look into what those mistakes were. He’s just like any other cheerleader on that team, and he is not being excluded in any way.”
Valentine said they “won’t give up” until the coach reconsiders. Even the community has been encouraging the district to allow Glenn to be on the team wearing shirts that say #TeamGlenn at games to show their support.
“No matter what they have or what they are, each child deserves the chance to do what they want to do in life. These kids need attention, not discrimination,” Sue said.
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