{"id":117036,"date":"2019-10-24T12:11:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T16:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=117036"},"modified":"2019-11-13T14:27:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T19:27:03","slug":"gabriella-parisi-best-buddies-participant-makes-history-in-mt-olive-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/newjerseyhomecoming","title":{"rendered":"Best Buddies Participant Gabriella Parisi Makes History in Mt. Olive, New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nivo&#8221; interval=&#8221;0&#8243; images=&#8221;117048,117047&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Best Buddies participant Gabriella Grace Parisi (GiGi) was recently crowned Mount Olive High School\u2019s Homecoming Queen! GiGi is the first student with Down syndrome to win the crown in Mount Olive&#8217;s history. This important day for Mount Olive High School embodies the culture of acceptance and friendship that Best Buddies strives to create in communities around the world every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen she walked across the field as a homecoming Princess, we couldn&#8217;t help but think about all those before her who led the way,\u201d said Rosemary and Alberto Parisi, GiGi\u2019s parents. \u201cThat evening, our daughter represented the Down syndrome community in a big way.\u00a0 If I was ever skeptical of students\u2019 acceptance of GiGi before, I no longer am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GiGi\u2019s parents, like many within the Best Buddies community, advocate for inclusion, day in and day out. The Parisi family explained intellectual and developmental disabilities, particularly Down syndrome, to students and administration since GiGi was in grammar school and continued until GiGi got to middle school, which was when she joined Best Buddies. She has made and cemented many friendships since that time.\u00a0 Now, in high school, GiGi&#8217;s peers, who she grew up with,\u00a0 understand, accept and acknowledge her for the phenomenal human being that she is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was voted Homecoming Queen by her peers, not by teacher and adults, who understand and accept her,\u201d explained the Parisi family. \u201cShe was voted in by teenagers who have grown so much thanks to the advocacy work done by organizations like Best Buddies, alongside the hard work of many families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Best Buddies\u2019 mission is fostering communities of inclusion, where all students with and without idisabilities are given equal access to opportunities. Learn more about our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/what-we-do\/friendship\/\">Friendship programs<\/a> today![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nivo&#8221; interval=&#8221;0&#8243; images=&#8221;117048,117047&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Best Buddies participant Gabriella Grace Parisi (GiGi) was recently crowned Mount Olive High School\u2019s Homecoming Queen! GiGi is the first student with Down syndrome to win the crown in Mount Olive&#8217;s history. This important day for Mount Olive High School embodies the culture [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":117047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"blog-news-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[63,115,854],"class_list":["post-117036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-bestbuddies","tag-friendship","tag-inclusion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Best Buddies Participant Gabriella Parisi Makes History in Mt. Olive, New Jersey - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/newjerseyhomecoming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Buddies Participant Gabriella Parisi Makes History in Mt. Olive, New Jersey - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nivo&#8221; interval=&#8221;0&#8243; images=&#8221;117048,117047&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Best Buddies participant Gabriella Grace Parisi (GiGi) was recently crowned Mount Olive High School\u2019s Homecoming Queen! GiGi is the first student with Down syndrome to win the crown in Mount Olive&#8217;s history. This important day for Mount Olive High School embodies the culture [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/newjerseyhomecoming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-24T16:11:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-13T19:27:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1062-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1772\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1872\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nicolemaddox\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nicolemaddox\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/newjerseyhomecoming\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/newjerseyhomecoming\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"nicolemaddox\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a9966468feeb43a1457423fa470199b9\"},\"headline\":\"Best Buddies Participant Gabriella Parisi Makes History in Mt. 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