SANFORD, Fla. – Elsa the Snow Queen sang “Let it Go” as Kimberly Jones entered the room. Kimberly’s daughter, Khloe, 2 at the time, sat with her eyes laser-locked on the TV, watching “Frozen” for the umpteenth time.
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
“Perfect pitch,” Kimberly remembered. “I thought, ‘Man, the quality is really good.”
Only it wasn’t Elsa whom Kimberly heard singing.
It was Khloe –who had a frightening start to life.
Kimberly called it a “rough birth.” She was in labor for 24 hours. Khloe spent her first two months in the hospital. It took two years before doctors diagnosed Khloe with muscular dystrophy.
They told Kimberly her daughter would never talk and might not even smile.
“They said she may never do anything on a ‘quote, unquote,’ regular spectrum, and that was terrifying,” Kimberly said. “Just heartbreaking.”
Yet there was Khloe, singing along with Elsa.
“It was at that moment I realized I don’t have to put her in this box,” Kimberly said. “We’re not going to treat her like she can’t do anything. Who knows what she can do?”
Now 13, Khloe uses a wheelchair but can talk. She speaks softly and you have to listen carefully to hear what she’s saying, but Khloe can communicate with others.
And she can smile.
And sing.
***
Khloe is in the fourth grade at Prodigy Academy Advance Learning Center, a K-12 private school near her home in Sanford. She attends the school with the help of a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities. The state-funded scholarship is managed by Step Up For Students.
“I think it’s an amazing scholarship. I literally don’t know what I would have done without it,” Kimberly said.
Megan Allen, Prodigy’s CEO and founder, has known Khloe for nearly all her life. Three years ago, she asked Kimberly to let her develop a curriculum that would fit Khloe’s needs. Kimberly readily agreed.
“I was so frustrated with the lack of education options for people with similar disabilities as Khloe’s,” Kimberly said. “(Schools) kind of grouped students with disabilities together, and a very large majority of them have cognitive disabilities, which she does not have. Khloe’s is physical. Disabilities are so vast. You can’t group them together and expect everyone to succeed.”
Knowing Khloe loves music, Allen sought a curriculum that incorporates singing. Khloe learned about America through the song “Fifty Nifty United States.” She learned to count by counting the beat of a song.
“It’s creating things based on her strengths, and music is her strength,” Allen said. “She can learn songs very well and very fast.”
Khloe has learned to use a touchpad keyboard, and Allen allows her to learn at her pace.
“I always tell her, ‘Khloe, your wheelchair does not define you. What your limitations are do not define you,’” Allen said. “So where other people say, ‘Oh, she can’t do that,’ we figure out a way that works for her.”
Kimberly said Allen is the “key” to Khloe’s academic gains.
“There are so many hurdles to clear and Megan’s school is not set up for this,” Kimberly said. “But she’s jumping over these hurdles and going above and beyond to make a place for Khloe.”
***
Khloe likes poetry and fashion design.
She is a caring young lady who’s filled with empathy.
“Sometimes if I’m feeling sleepy, she says, ‘Grandma, are you OK?’ She has been doing that since she was 3 or 4,” said Beverly Letcher, Khloe’s grandmother. “She can just tell when something isn’t going right, and she wants to know if she can help.”
Khloe listened patiently inside the reception area at Prodigy on a recent afternoon while her mom, grandmother, and Allen bragged about her accomplishments.
“It makes me feel proud,” she said of hearing the praise.
Khloe said she doesn’t feel sad because of her physical limitations. In fact, she feels the opposite. She’s “happy” about what she can accomplish.
“Because it’s great,” she said.
“She’s just a miracle, and the people in her life are angels,” her grandma said.
***
During the 2023-24 school year, Allen charged each of her students to write a book. Some wrote about superheroes, pets with superpowers, or children with special powers. The books were published and are available on Amazon (Find them here.).
Khloe wrote about her superpower: singing.
In “Rolling with Resilience, Khloe Shines Beyond Boundaries,” Khloe wrote about a time when she wanted to sing at an event in town but was told no. So, Khloe asked Allen if she could sing at that year’s graduation. Prodigy’s graduation is more celebration than ceremony. Every student is recognized during the event, which often lasts more than two hours.
Khloe opened the production with her favorite song, “Lift Every Voice.” Kimberly tried to hold the microphone steady as her daughter sang.
“It was next-level tears,” Kimberly said.
Khloe left the stage to a standing ovation. Some parents turned to Allen and said, “I didn’t know she could sing like that.”
“Why not?” Allen asked. “Because she uses a wheelchair, you didn’t think she can sing? Because she speaks softly, she can’t sing? When she opens her mouth to sing, she can sing.”
Kimberly calls her daughter’s book “an answer to a prayer.”
Written with the help of Allen, who transcribed Khloe’s dictation, it’s an example of what someone can accomplish if given a chance.
“It shows the trust Khloe and Megan have in each other and the feelings Khloe has in her heart, it’s all in the book,” Kimberly said. “That’s why it’s a book not just for children, it’s for anyone who may have been going through a hard time.”
