Michael Kelley has Down syndrome and plays on his high school’s special needs basketball team. But when the teen’s mother bought Michael a letter jacket and varsity letter, the school’s principal made him take it off, saying he wasn’t a real varsity athlete. 
 
 Michael’s story hit national news this week, prompting thousands of people to reach out in support, including an amazing act of kindness from a rival school’s principal. 
 
 The incident started when the parent of another athlete at Wichita East high school complained that Kelley was wearing an official varisty letter, which technically he did not earn. 
 
 So Michael’s principal, Ken Thiessen, asked that the teen take off the jacket while in school. 
 
 “Teachers told the parents they would prefer he not wear the letter on his jacket,” Thiessen told Wichita TV station WKSN. 
 
 Thiessen said the school does not award varsity letters for the special needs basketball team, so Michael Kelley would not be allowed to wear his letter. 
 
 “We have considered it, and our decision was no,” he said. “We decided that it is not appropriate in our situation because it is not a varsity level competition.” 
 
 Since the story of Michael Kelley began hitting national news, many have spoken out in support of the teen with Down syndrome. Some have called on the high school to allow Michael to wear his jacket. 
 
 Great idea from @Fake1923Jayhawk: a Wichita East athlete could give the adults a lesson in humanity by giving that kid his/her letter jacket — Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) March 27, 2015 
 
 If there are adults working at Wichita East, now would be a good time to make yourselves heard. — Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) March 27, 2015 
 
 I wish I could go back in time and give my varsity letter to a kid who just wanted to belong and feel normal. My word, the pettiness of ppl. — Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) March 27, 2015 
 
 Someone even started a petition on Change.org calling on the district to allow Michael Kelley and other students with Down syndrome or other special needs to wear varsity letters for the teams they play on. 
 
 The petition has more than 15,000 signatures. 
 
 “I plan on presenting my petition at the BOE meeting in Wichita on Monday,” said the petition’s organizer. “I would like at least 10,000 signatures and we have over 6,000 now. I am beyond proud of the response from our Kansas community and surrounding communities! Thank you to everyone who is supporting! #GiveThemLetters” 
 
 Now, even a rival high school’s principal is reaching out. Mark Calvin, principal and athletic director at nearby Santana High School, is speaking out in support of Michael. 
 
 “Before he got the letter he was one of the biggest cheerleaders in the school. It was incredible, after he got the letter jacket it just sky rocketed him to another level,” Calvin said. 
 
 “We can’t be cookie cutter. We have all kinds of kids with all kinds of different needs and we need to be able to make our rules adjust to meet those needs,” he added. 
 
 Mark Calvin made another important gesture for Michael Kelley, sending the boy with Down syndrome an official varsity letter and an important message: “You can be a part of something anywhere you want to.” 
 
 [Image via KSN] ||||| Related Coverage Mom says special needs son at East High told to remove his varsity letter 
 
 WICHITA, Kansas — KSN talked to USD 259 administrators Friday about their policy regarding sports letters and our story concerning the East High School student. 
 
 Officials said they want to make two important points of clarification: 
 
 “At no time did the teacher take Michael’s jacket off and replace it with a sweatshirt.” 
 
 They said, “It’s important for the district to recognize all of the students who participate in school activities as representatives of their school. Students have pride in being a part of the school community. We put priority on creating those opportunities to celebrate.” 
 
 Michael’s mother did tell us the jacket was removed and he came home in a sweatshirt. 
 
 Both the school and the family say a teacher did say they would prefer Michael not wear the jacket because he didn’t earn the varsity letter. 
 
 USD 259’s superintendent, John Allison also talked to KSN about the controversy. 
 
 KSN specifically asked him why one high school in the district does allow special needs athletes to earn the same varsity letter as all other athletes earn. Wichita’s East High does not. 
 
 Sunday, John Allison talked one-on-one with KSN about why there is no district-wide policy. 
 
 The superintendent said the school is working with the league Michael plays in to try to come up with whether or not varsity letters will be allowed, but it he says it may take some time. 
 
 “So, I can understand frustration in that I’d like the answer Monday, but this is volunteer league and their board has been working through a process of developing criteria and how this fits with their league goals, and how can we best support them,” said Allison 
 
 Allison said he is looking forward to working with both the school board, and the athletic board Michael plays in. 
 
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 KENT, Ohio - Kent State University has become the first university in the country to sign a student with autism to play division one sports. 
 
 Kalin Bennett, a 6' 10" Little Rock Arkansas native, has signed a letter of intent to play with the Golden Flashes after playing high school basketball for Little Rock Christian Academy and, most recently, for Link Year Prep in Branson, Missouri. 
 
 Bennett's high school coach, Clarence Finley, said that Bennett was special in many ways. He believes he was successful, in part, because he was not treated differently than any of the other students in his school. 
 
 "If someone has autism they will let them get away with the little bitty things, no. We held him accountable on the court, we held him accountable in the classroom and I think that's what made him so super," said Finley. 
 
 His high school coach also credited Bennett's mother for making sure he was given the opportunity to succeed. 
 
 "By the time he left, it was no doubt that he was going to be very special, that he was going to be able to compete at any level he wanted to compete in, both academically and athletically," said Finley. 
 
 Kent State would not talk about Bennett specifically, citing NCAA rules, because he is still considered a recruit. 
 
 Gina Campana, the Assistant Director of Assessment and Research for the University's Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion did talk directly with Bennett and his mother during their selection process. 
 
 "I've talked to a lot of students that choose Kent State because of the initiatives that we have here for students who are on the spectrum," said Campana. 
 
 These efforts include providing a quiet space for students to study and a student group that pairs students with autism up with other students in an environment where they are equals. 
 
 As a mother of a Kent student with autism herself, Campana said she can communicate with parents of other students who have autism in a way that only they can completely understand. 
 
 She said she does not like to see autism as a disability but as a "super power" and said there is no doubt that students who are on the autistic spectrum can succeed at anything, including basketball. 
 
 "If they want to be in video design, computer science or art, or whatever they want to do. absolutely anybody who is on an autism spectrum can get a college degree. And, they can come and get that done here, at Kent State, and we will support them," said Campana. 
 
 Bennett is currently enrolled at Link Year Prep in Branson, Missouri. He was playing basketball on the road in Arkansas and could not be reached on Wednesday. 
 
 In online videos he said he would like to use his opportunity to inspire others. 
 
 He is expected to be enrolled at Kent in the summer of 2019. 
 
 More on Kent State University, here.
– Did Michael Kelley, a boy with Down Syndrome and autism, have his letter jacket taken off him at school? The accusation has triggered squabbling, an online petition, and debate about how to recognize special-needs children in high-school athletics in Wichita, Kansas, KSN reports. Michael's mom, Jolinda, first said a staff member asked him to remove the jacket: "Another parent, from what I am told, was upset that my son was wearing his letter jacket," she says. And while the incident did spark "a dialogue" with Wichita East High School, she says it led to no "tangible results." For his part, school principal Ken Thiessen admits that "teachers told the parents they would prefer he not wear the letter on his jacket," but he later told KSN that no staff member removed it for him, as Jolinda claimed at a press conference yesterday. So what's the big deal? Varsity athletes can wear jackets with a styled letter, while those who take part in special-needs basketball (like Michael) are awarded a letter that looks different, reports the Wichita Eagle. But Michael's parents bought him a varsity-letter jacket, which led to the incident. Now a change.org petition is arguing that special-needs kids should get varsity letters too, and has nearly 41,000 supporters as of this writing. The Twitter-verse is buzzing in support of Michael (see #givethemletters), and a nearby high-school athletic director is taking Michael's side: "It was incredible, after he got the letter jacket it just sky-rocketed him to another level," he tells Inquisitr. "We can’t be cookie cutter. We have all kinds of kids with all kinds of different needs."