One aspect of the coronavirus shutdown that Katie Myers appreciated was the time together with her family.

“We had a lot of family time in the house, going on walks. It made me appreciate my family more,” she said.

Reflecting on her family – her parents, Kathy and Jim Myers, and her two sisters, Georgia, 16, and Emily, 13 – she said, “My family as a whole are my best friends, my parents and both my sisters.”

Katie Myers – the valedictorian of the class of 2021 at the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland – said her outlook on life and her activities at and outside school have been shaped by Emily’s Down syndrome.

“That has had an enormous impact on my life and my family’s life and impacted a lot of things I’ve chosen to do here,” she said.

Describing Emily, Myers said, “She’s a little stubborn. She’s so funny and always makes me laugh. In our family, she’s the one who will comfort someone when she notices they’re sad.”

Myers said she’s learned a lot from Emily, “watching her as she’s grown up, how she takes pride in everything. She accomplishes even the little things and just really makes me grateful and appreciate what I can do.”

Emily is a student at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Bethesda, where Katie Myers got to go to school with her sister before graduating from there in 2017.

“Being able to go to Our Lady of Lourdes with Emily made me really appreciate an inclusive environment,” Myers said.

The parishioner of Holy Redeemer in Kensington noted, “Our faith really calls for it. We’re really called to love and respect everybody, and part of that is to include everyone, even if it’s difficult sometimes.”

The fact that the Academy of the Holy Cross offers the inclusive Moreau Options Program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities “was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to go here,” Myers said.

Students in that program participate in all aspects of life at Holy Cross, taking a variety of classes and participating in extracurricular activities and athletic teams with their fellow students.

At Holy Cross, Myers took an Introduction to Special Education class, where she assisted students in the Moreau Options Program, including working with a student on the school yearbook, designing pages and taking pictures.

The Moreau Options Program is named for Blessed Basile Moreau, the French priest who founded the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1837. The Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland, a Catholic high school for young women, is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. 

Myers participated in the academy’s Best Buddies chapter for all four of her years there, including serving as the group’s president. Best Buddies promotes friendship with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In previous years, Best Buddies participants at Holy Cross would sometimes hang out in classrooms “and eat a lot of foods” together,” Myers said. During the pandemic, the group had to shift its activities online, so members participated in things like virtual movie nights.

“My favorite thing we did this year was a pet show and tell,” Myers said. “We had to be creative… It was a little chaotic. Everybody was trying to go on at once.”

In recent years, Myers has also coached her sister and other youth in Special Olympics soccer and basketball.

“I really enjoyed Special Olympics,” Myers said. “When those kids score a basket, they’re just so excited. It’s almost infectious. You can’t help but be happy for them.”

Myers has also participated in the Down Syndrome Network of Montgomery County, joining community walks, family picnics and a winter dance. For her Holy Cross senior project, she served at Main Street Connect in Rockville, an inclusive, community centered residential development.

At Holy Cross, Myers took many Advanced Placement and college credit courses, and her favorite classes there included honors biology and A.P. psychology.

Reflecting on the challenge of taking classes online during the pandemic, she said, “As a student, I think virtual (learning) was definitely an adjustment. Overall, I think Holy Cross did a good job handling it. It’s been nice to be back in the building the last couple months.”

Interviewed in the Holy Cross courtyard, Myers wore a face mask in accord with coronavirus safety guidelines, but on that spring day, she also wore a University of Maryland sweatshirt with her school uniform. At the university, she may major in psychology.

Asked about her career goals, she said, “I definitely want to work with a community of people with disabilities. I’m thinking now (of becoming) an occupational or physical therapist.”

After attending Catholic elementary school with her younger sister with Down syndrome, and then serving people with disabilities in many ways during her Catholic high school years, Myers said, “The bottom line is, my Catholic education has definitely strengthened my faith quite a bit. That’s what will take me far, to have that solid base and foundation.”