FORT WORTH, Texas — In Texas, perhaps the only thing bigger than high school football is the size of the homecoming mum.
These prodigious perennials have become a gigantic tradition. But at Southwest High School in Fort Worth, mums are just a small part of an even bigger homecoming celebration.
Every corner of the building is decorated in school spirit-- except one.
The special needs students at Southwest go to school under the same roof, but at times it feels like they’re miles away.
Most days, they don’t have a lot of interaction with the general population, which can make them feel isolated, especially on homecoming.
“We just noticed that they were not participating,” said family and consumer sciences teacher Michele Riley.
“They didn’t make mums, they didn’t participate in the dress-up days,” said senior Diana Guido. “They weren’t doing what we did.”
“I kind of almost wanted to cry,” said senior Valerie Jaure. “I felt bad because how did I go my past two years without noticing?”
A lot of students felt the same way.
So, they started making mums-- one for every special needs kid in the school.
They plan to hand out more than 40 this year so that no one ever feels left out again.
“If you feel loved and you feel comfortable with the people that you’re with, you’ll be able to be yourself,” Guido said.
“They’re students too,” said senior Alissa Laguna. “They should be involved in all this. They should have mums of their own.”
The students presented the mums before Thursday’s homecoming game.
“My kids were walking down the hallway skipping, excited and laughing and emotional because of what they had just done,” Riley said.
“It’s more than just a mum; it’s like a little happiness giving it to them,” said junior Jacky Torres.
Mrs. Riley says, years from now, her students probably won’t remember a thing she taught them in class. But they will never forget this.
“These kids are important to me,” Riley said. “As teachers, we don’t just teach them curriculum and out of a book. We have to teach them as a human being, and we have to teach them everything.”
Some homecoming mums may be big, but these kids have created something even bigger.