Westlake High Pair With Down Syndrome Named Homecoming King and Queen

Holly Thomas and Jacob Cox, the Westlake High School pair with Down syndrome became the 2013 Homecoming King and Queen Friday night. 

The announcement was made at the Westlake High School home football game. 
The 21-year-olds, who will age out of Westlake’s School System this year, both ended up on the homecoming court after their Westlake High classmates cast votes for them.

Westlake students each received a list of every senior boy and girl in the school and when the votes were tallied, both Jacob and Holly both made the court of six seniors.

Final voting was Thursday. The homecoming rally was Friday afternoon. 

Rounding out this year's court were Lauren Hurst, Morgan Jenkins, Kent Axcell and Peter Eyre.

The article on Patch received widespread support with almost 5,400 people sharing it on Facebook and equal number of people sharing the article. 

Katie McGlynn, a Westlake Intervention Specialist who works with the pair, said students were given the names of every person in the school and asked to select three boys and three girls for the homecoming court.

Both Jacob and Holly, who are good friends, ended up on the court.

McGlynn said the nominations aren't a total surprise.

"Chad was previously nominated," she said of Class of 2012's Chad DiLillo. 

DiLillo, a special education student who has since graduated, was previously nominated as homecoming king. Dubbed “Westlake’s Biggest Fan,” the student body held a State Sendoff last year for Chad, cheering him as he walked the halls of the school and then received his diploma. The outgoing DiLillo was a longtime fixture at Westlake sporting events.