Beauty queen inspires Dist. 204 students
A beauty queen in a sparkly crown dazzled schoolchildren in Naperville and Aurora Tuesday.
“Do you have a boyfriend?" a little second-grade boy asked wishfully.
But it was Abbey Curran's message “I truly believe any dream is possible, as long as you believe in yourself," she says that teachers hope stays with the students.
After all, Curran herself is living proof.
Crowned Miss Iowa in 2008, Curran was the first state winner with a disability to compete in the Miss USA pageant. She was born with cerebral palsy and holds someone's arm for assistance when she walks.
Today, the 23-year-old is a senior at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, studying public relations and biology. She plans to become a physician's assistant.
Lori Price, president of the Indian Prairie Special Needs PTA, asked Curran to speak at Unit District 204 schools after seeing her on YouTube. The IPSN PTA was the first special needs PTA in Illinois and remains the largest.
“Since October is Disability Awareness Month, I thought this was the perfect time to invite her to our district," Price said.
The beauty queen not only responded to Price's e-mail “within about five minutes," she cheerfully committed to speak at 12 schools, talk with Girl Scouts and attend the IPSN PTA meeting during a jam-packed two-day visit.
“My parents never stressed the fact that I had a disability, Curran recalled. “We didn't dwell on it."
There was a bit of tough love involved, too, she said, recalling how her mother would walk slightly ahead of her her arm just out of Curran's reach to encourage Curran to walk on her own.
While still in high school, Curran founded the “Miss You Can Do It" pageant for girls with disabilities. The point is not to turn them into beauty queens, she said, but to “challenge them to chase their dreams."
At Clow Elementary School in Naperville, Curran spoke Tuesday to a rapt audience of second- through fifth-graders. In addition to her crown, she wore dangling earrings, glittery shoes and her “Miss Iowa" banner over a sleeveless black dress.
One little boy asked if she had been teased a lot. Curran said it hurt her feelings when classmates said, “You walk silly."
“I already know I walk different," she said.
Other students wanted to know her favorite color (peacock blue), baseball team (Rangers), pets (a dog and cat) and musical instrument (piano).
Two dozen hands were still in the air when it was time for Curran to leave for the next school.
“I love kids," said Curran, who hopes one day to have five of her own. “This is so much fun for me. I just wish we had time to play with them instead of just speaking to them."