Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools: Mallard Creek Student Gets Trip To Kentucky Derby

Davidson NC

05 May, 2022

5:13 PM

Description

Press release from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools: 5/5/2022 Mallard Creek High School celebrated one of their own fulfilling a dream come true. Ty Williams, a Mallard Creek High student, was presented a trip to the Kentucky Derby thanks to the Dream on 3 nonprofit, headquartered in Charlotte. Thursday, cheerleaders and fellow students lined the front of the school and rolled out the red carpet for Williams, who did not know that he would also be getting to the Derby in style. Williams, an avid lover of all things equestrian, walked out from his classroom to the awaiting crowd where his parents also stood. "Ty has severe autism," said his mother, Paula. "He loves horses and he's done hippotherapy," she said. To see her son surprised at school was especially close to her heart as CMS employee herself of more than two decades. "It's so wonderful," she said. Looking out past the red carpet, a long stretch limo awaited the Williams family to whisk them away to the Concord Regional Airport where they would hop aboard a private jet to Kentucky. It's a trip that Williams' Exceptional Children (EC) teacher is grateful her student will get to make. "I am so excited for Ty and his family. I think a lot of times, students that maybe don't communicate verbally get a little bit overlooked by people because they don't get the same opportunities to socialize," said Kristina Dailey, who has five years of experience teaching EC. She says her job is tough, but incredibly rewarding. "I've met some of the most honest, beautiful people in my classroom, including my students and my colleagues. We all have our challenges, but we kind of learned to speak our own little language in our classroom, and it's just really fulfilling to be able to work with them," she said. Ty's return will be worked into a creative lesson where they'll use photos from the trip as a slideshow and he will present them to his EC class. "We can't wait," said Dailey. Mallard Creek High School Principal Jennifer Dean echoed Dailey, saying the school was glad to support the Williams family. "We look for all opportunities to celebrate all of our students in their diversity, and having the opportunity to have a celebration of Ty as he receives this incredible opportunity means so much to me personally, but also to our entire school community," said Dean. Cheerleaders and students quietly snapped and palm-clapped as he walked down the red carpet, stepping into the limo in style, ready to head to the bluegrass state to see the Kentucky Derby. This press release was produced by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The views expressed here are the author's own.