Teen With Down Syndrome Crowned Woodbridge Homecoming King

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — If you happened to take in the Woodbridge High School vs. JFK football game last Friday night, you witnessed something pretty special: During halftime on the field, a student with Down syndrome was crowned homecoming king.

Patrick Petro, is 18 and has Down syndrome. He's lived in Woodbridge all his life and his parents, Dawn and Darin Petro, have long-standing roots here: His father was quite the football star when he himself attended Woodbridge High. Darin quarterbacked the 1983 Barrons team, the best in school history, and took the Barrons to win a Middlesex County Athletic Conference title.

His son, Patrick, is now the manager of the Woodbridge varsity football team: He helps them set up for games, he wears a dress shirt and tie on Thursdays like all the other players and he joins on-field team meetings during timeouts. Amidst all the fuss Friday night while he was crowned king, Patrick actually kept saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, my team needs me back on the field," Woodbridge High principal Glenn Lottmann told Patch.

"I didn't know I was going to be king, so I was surprised," said Patrick. "I like high school and the football team. I'm the water boy. We have a game on Friday."

Don't be surprised he won, said Lottmann: This is just how the students at Woodbridge High School are.

"Every year, the faculty submits a list of names for homecoming court, and about 50 kids are submitted," explained Lottmann. "From there, students are asked to vote. The top five boys and top five girls make up the homecoming court and the student body votes again from there for a king and queen. Patrick won in a landslide. All the other boy candidates combined lost to the number of votes Patrick got."

Patrick was given a standing ovation Friday night.

"One of the best moments of my career was Friday night," said Lottmann. "We were all fighting back emotion when Patrick's name was called. Patrick epitomizes Woodbridge High School's spirit. He's always on the sidelines, he's always running up and down, cheering. Whether we're up or down by a huge margin, you can't tell when you look at Patrick. He's always like, 'Come on guys, you can do this.' He does the same thing during baseball season."

"During lunch period, when he's in the cafeteria, you'd think a celebrity is in there," continued Lottmann. "All the students high-five him and say hi to him. The whole student body knows Patrick and loves him. That's just who he is. His spirit is so uplifting."

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month. According to the National Down Syndrome Society, one in every 700 babies is born every year in the U.S. with Down syndrome, or about 6,000 per year. As first reported in MyCentralJersey, the number of babies born with Down syndrome has decreased 30 percent, and the decline was attributed by the medical journal Prenatal Diagnosis to about 70 percent of pregnancies being terminated after parents are given a Down diagnosis.

Darin told Home News Tribune reporter Greg Tufaro he didn't want to get into a pro-life or pro-choice debate. But he also said he wonders if parents given a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis “know the joy Patrick has brought to us.”

Patrick also plays in Woodbridge's Challenger football program. He has a younger 6-year-old brother.

“He’s part of the team,” Woodbridge head coach Kevin Coleman told the Home News Tribune. “They consider him one of the guys. We treat him just like everybody else. If he’s not doing something right, I yell at him. I’ll say, ‘Let’s go. You didn’t get the (kicking) block today.’ He doesn’t feel any different. He’s just a great kid.”

"The other candidates said the right guy won on Friday night," said principal Lottmann.

Pictured: The Woodbridge High 2017 Homecoming court: From left to right, Samantha Nedza, Curtis Nesbit, Cameron Christine, Gabby D’Emilio, King: Patrick Petro, Queen: Ambar Coto, Andrew Fuentes, Aiden Kolenovic, Brittany Sa and Sienna Caforio Not pictured: Charity Daramola, who was representing the WHS cross-country team at Disney. Not pictured: Edinam Bradley, who is a member of the football team and reported directly back to the locker room during halftime. Picture supplied by Woodbridge High principal Glenn Lottmann.