Beware the sweet video may move you to tears of joy. Two Pennsylvania high school students, who both have Down syndrome, were crowned Homecoming King and Queen by their peers last Friday.
A video of the momentous event was posted to YouTube and has since gone viral. The announcer first asks for a drum roll before announcing the Homecoming Queen as Lily Bowman. The recorder of the video is heard cheering the new member of high school royalty on.
Then the announcer reveals the Homecoming King as Nick McGee. He dashes from the football field over to his peers in the bleachers. The crowd immediately burst into a frenzy - cheering, screaming, and applauding. He then leads them in a chant of "I believe that we will win" as they continue to go berserk.
"It was pure joy and it was pure Nick. It was just exactly how he always is," Nick's mom Kim McGee said to ABC7. She also told NBC10 in Philadelphia "It was very exciting and everybody was in tears."
Nick's mom was not the only one. Taylor Dunn who stood center field with Nick said the touching moment also brought tears to her eyes.
"I had my fingers crossed and when his name got called I just started crying because it was probably the most amazing moment of my entire CB South career," she said to NBC10.
As ABC7 explains, school administrators have instructed students to treat Lily and Nick to as fellow classmates with Down syndrome, but simply as classmates. Nick and Lily are both active members of the student body so it came as no surprise to some school administrators.
"There's probably a thousand different reasons why they were chosen in a class of over 600 students," said Scott Davidheiser, the principal of Central Bucks High School South. "I think everything's reciprocal in life."
Davidheiser also said the school has received a "tremendous" amount of attention since the Homecoming event on Friday.
"It just shines light on the importance of caring for kids, and the way kids care for kids," he said. "Schools are built for academic success, obviously, but we know a lot of things go into making success possible."