Editor’s note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

When Gigi Hutchison-Martinez is on the sidelines with the rest of the Green Valley High School varsity cheerleading squad, her mom, Lori, doesn’t see the senior’s Down syndrome.

Neither do Gigi’s peers. In fact, they see her as their queen. Their homecoming queen.

Green Valley is a big Henderson school, more than 2,500 students, but Gigi isn’t lost in the shuffle. She’s well-known and well-liked.

This has been a supportive environment for her, and cheer especially has helped her thrive and grow over the years.

She’s confident, not at all shy, and wears her happiness on her face. Asked how she felt after winning the Homecoming queen vote: “Good,” she said.

Did she expect to win?

“Yes.”

Lori Hutchison was beyond proud to see her youngest daughter celebrated Friday by friends and admirers. Her whole family turned out and sat in the front row.

“We never take anything for granted,” Lori Hutchison said. “We know her worth, but you just never know” how many peers agree.

Plenty did.

It was a long and hard-fought homecoming football game against Clark. Gigi kept up her energy, doing quick changes during halftime to get from her cheer uniform into a flowing floral dress and sparkly kitten heels and back again. As the game passed three hours, she threw her arms up in front of the student section to remind them to keep cheering, too. They roared.

“We all know her. The teachers know her,” sister Maddie Martinez said. “We didn’t know the students feel the same.”

Down syndrome is a common genetic condition also known as Trisomy 21. People with the condition have a copy of their 21st chromosome, which can cause developmental delays, intellectual disability and certain physical and medical conditions and characteristics.

It doesn’t have to limit their social skills and desire to take advantage of what high school has to offer.

Ebullient and loyal to the Gators since she was about 8 years old and playing to the crowd at her older sister’s volleyball games, Gigi, 18, is now in her fourth year on the cheer team. She’s also taken electives alongside her peers who aren’t in special education: dance; leadership, which allowed her to serve on the student council; and video production, where she worked at the school’s GVTV station. Occasionally, she’s helped the volleyball team as a manager.

At Green Valley, students vote for a 10-person homecoming court. Then the court campaigns at school for another round of voting to be queen or king. The top two vote-getters regardless of gender are crowned — that can mean two queens.

Still, when one of the girls on Gigi’s cheer team was the first name called out, Gigi welled up, thinking the queen title had slipped past her.

When Gigi’s name came next, she buried her face in her hands. Her teammates joyfully crowded her. Her mom leapt off her feet. She upgraded the small tiara for the court finalists with larger jewels. Gigi would probably sleep in her crown and sash, her sister said.

As the parade floats rounded the running track, with Gigi bouncing around on the seniors’ float, a couple of girls in the overflowing student section affirmed the selection.

“I knew Gigi would win,” one said to another. “That’s my girl.”