When Rachael DeVall, senior at West Hall High School, was named the Georgia 2020 Unified Partner of the Year at the state Special Olympics, she was speechless.
She tried to laugh to cover up her tears, but DeVall said she couldn’t help but swell with emotion.
For seven years, she has volunteered with the Special Olympics Georgia, and as a unified partner, she played sports alongside dozens of kids and teenagers with special needs.
“It was a huge honor that I will never forget,” she said.
DeVall’s passion for helping those with disabilities sparked as early as elementary school. She grew up with two cousins who have special needs and started helping with the local Special Olympics.
Class of 2020
The Times puts together this special senior recognition each year, highlighting a few standout stories from our local seniors, but this year we’ve added graduation lists from our local schools in an effort to honor as many graduates as we can. We hope you’re inspired by these stories and join us in celebrating the class of 2020. You can view these stories online as well as upcoming photo coverage of this year's graduation ceremonies.
During December of her senior year, DeVall worked with another student to found and raise $1,500 for Hall County Schools’ first Winter Ball. All of the middle and high school special education students throughout the district were invited.
“When you go to state games, there are opening ceremonies, and they dance afterward,” DeVall said. “There’s nothing like that for the county. We wanted something that would bring the students in our county together.”
Over 300 students arrived on buses during the school day to dance, do activities and just hang out. DeVall said the Winter Ball offered a chance for the kids and teenagers to improve their social skills and have fun around a large group of peers.
To thank the students for their participation, DeVall made sure each class took away a basket full of goodies.
“A lot of these kids are usually super shy and don’t interact much with others,” she said. “It was pretty cool seeing everyone together.”
Although DeVall volunteers with those who have special needs on a regular basis, she said they help her as much as she helps them.
She has built strong friendships with two special education students from her school, and has even gotten to cheer with both of them at West Hall High. They’re not the sort of friends who only see each other at school, they meet up afterward to grab dinner or spend time at their homes.
“Being around them just brings the good out in you,” DeVall said. “You want to be someone they can look up to. They’re always happy and smiling, and it makes you want to be always happy and smiling. I don’t know if they realize that, but they definitely have impacted me.”
When DeVall is not spending time with special education students, she’s cheerleading or volunteer coaching West Hall Youth Cheer.
She started cheerleading in the third grade and during high school served on both the varsity cheer and competition team.
Next school year she will take over as the director for the West Hall Youth Cheer and attend Brenau University under a competition cheer scholarship.
She plans to study psychology to pursue her dream of becoming a support coordinator for families who have children with disabilities.
“I want others to know that they’re no different than you and I,” DeVall said. “Just because they have a disability doesn’t mean you need to treat them differently. That’s why I put so much effort in trying to be there for them.”
West Hall High School graduating seniors
A tentative list provided by Hall County Schools
Pratham Adajania
Jasmine Adame
Madison Adams
Daniel Alba
Christian Aldaco
Juan Aldaco
Ana Aldaco Otero
Maricrus Aleman
Zachary Allbright
Alexandra Almaraz-Romero
Marilyn Alvarez
Melena Appling
Bryan Aramburo
Alexis Arroyo Garcia
Melanie Arteaga
Julie Arzate
Jireh Asumah
Lola Atwell
Yamilette Avila
Eyby Aviles
Samaria Badger
Noah Bannister
Azucena Bautista
Joshua Bazzetta
Dawson Beardshaw
Eden Beardshaw
Ignacio Becerra
Erika Benitez
Jeremy Berger
Avery Bernadac
Mikayla Blackwell
Jannet Bonilla
Jeslin Bonilla-Ramirez
Alexis Bowen
Rachel Brown
Samantha Brown
Makenna Bryan
Nathan Buchanan
Caitlyn Bulloch
Sarah Burchfield
Obed Bustos-Abonza
Alyssa Cain
Andrew Calderon
Ximmenna Carcamo
Brian Carden
Charlize Carlisle
Luis Carlos
Mariela Cervantes
Rachel Chacon Castaneda
Brankyla Chatman
Brittany Colee
Jacob Coleman
Caden Collins
Matthew Craven
Curtis Crawford
Flor Cruz
Jesus Cruz
Noemi Cruz
Bryan Cruz-Solorzano
Denny Cuevas
Cristian Davila
Jayline Davila-Serrano
Aaron Davis
Nataly Delgado
Danielle Derico
Rachael DeVall
Sebastian Edwards
John England
Mckinzey English
Jesus Espinoza
Shaun Estrich
Yannis Estrich
Melissa Felix
Jake Fernandez
Rah’Daicia Finks
Bryson Fitts
Evelin Flores Ortiz
Ashlyn Floyd
Kinsey Foster
Caleb Franklin
Paulouis Fuchs
Jonathan Gallaga
Kassandra Galvan
Gabriela Galvez
Lesly Gama
Elizabeth Gantt
Andy Garcia
Ashley Garcia
Edgar Garcia
Jacob Gault
Jon Giron
Noemi Godinez
Gisselle Gonzalez
Jose Gonzalez
Ricardo Gonzalez
Greyson Gotts
Riley Grace
Eduardo Guadarrama-Reyes
Jamilet Gutierrez-Cesilio
Daniel Guzman
Dylan Hanes
Gavin Hanville
Sean Hatcher
Trinity Haynes
Jessica Hazelrig
Aaron Hernandez
Adrian Hernandez
Alexis Hernandez
Daniel Hernandez
Limbeth Hernandez
Nancy Hernandez
Tania Hernandez Bedolla
Ashley Hernandez Iraheta
Karim Herrera
Andres Herrera-Townsend
Quincy Holcomb
Jakob Hoskeer
Monia Hossain
Sydney Hunt
Katia Hunter
Christopher Hussey
Andrew Huth
John-Luke Iodice
Aaron Jackson
Aaliyah James
Destiny Johnson
India Johnson
Geu Ho Jung
Cassidy Klekot
Canaan Koger
Ryan Kuhs
Mayly Lao
Zachary Lingle
Paloma Loera
Karina Lopez
Nicholas Lopez
Orlando Lopez
Kyra Lynch
Keishunn Marshall
Zachary Martin
Daniel Martinez
Daniela Martinez
Angelica Mata
Dalnick Matos Gomez
Katrina Mauldin
Gabrielle Mauro
Rosario Mayo Lopez
Andrew McCain
Elizabeth McGrew
Devin Meeks
Elizabeth Mejia-Marban
Krystal Miller
Avery Milligan
Taylor Millsap
Eric Miranda
Rodney Miron-Dorantes
Luis Molina
Grace Monson
Juan Montenegro Zamora
Erick Morales
Silus Morris
Elian Mosqueda
Daniel Moya
Sonny Neal
Thien Ngo
Mariah Nunez
Emma O’Neal
Jesus Ochoa-Zavala
Alejandra Olguin-Perez
Alondra Olguin-Perez
Logan Ormerod
John Ososkalo
Steven Ososkalo
William Page III
Slater Parker
Gaylon Passmore
Joseph Patten
Cortasia Pegues
Emmanuel Perdomo
Cristal Perez
Jonathan Perez
Bailey Pike
Kathryn Pittman
Dillon Pollard
Austin Pope
Evelyn Portillo
Isaiah Prather
Jade Price
Brooklyn Puckett
Victor Pulido
Yaretzy Quezada
Dianna Quintero
Amy Ramirez
Estefany Ramirez
Lizeth Ramirez
Ali Ranjha
Cali Reed
Fatima Reyes
Trinatee Richardson
Angel Rico
Solomon Riley
Angela Rivera
Brayan Rivera
Jonathan Rivett
Luz Robles
Alexander Rodriguez
Alma Rodriguez
Ivan Rodriguez
Eric Rogers
Ulises Romero
Wendy Romero
Jose Rubio
Linda Ruelas
Jonathan Ruiz
Heather Sablock
Hunter Samples
Cesar Sanchez Jr.
Juan Sanchez Jr.
Justin Scroggs
Jeffrey Serrato
Gabriel Shideler
Cadie Shirley
Kaylee Smallwood
Anthony Smith
Haley Smith
Leo Smith
Elizabeth Soriano
Christopher Sosebee
Arturo Soto Jr.
Carlos Soto
Kenneth Soto-Jaimes
Destiny Stainback
Tyler Stauffer
Anna Summerford
Jackson Swafford
William Sykes
Victoria Teeples
Thomas Tran
Jaden Turk
Mauricio Urquiza
Esmeralda Valle
Kimberly Valle
Gisselle Vargas
Julian Vazquez
Jesus Vazquez-Fonseca
Isaac Velazquez
Moses Villatoro
Nohemi Villatoro
Dylan Voyles
Mackenzie Wagner
Kaitlynn Walker
Bailey Weaver
Aashyah White
Joshua White
Kristen Whitmire
Hunter Wilkey
William Willis
Kinsey Wilson
Zoey Wilson
Emily Wood
Jesse Wylie
Charlotte Yarrington
Jacob Young
Alexis Zagwyn
Emily Zhu