Meet the most popular kid at Buckeye Trail

OLD WASHINGTON − Chances are if you see Buckeye Trail football coach Donnie Kerns at any Trail athletic event, you will see his No. 1 sidekick, Ethan Carpenter, not too far away.

Ethan is the son of Christina and Matt Watson and has Downs Syndrome. However, he became a surrogate member of the Kerns family when the pair were introduced in 2016.

"When I became football coach here at Buckeye Trail back in 2016, Ethan's grandma reached out and said he might be interested in getting involved," said Donnie, who works as an intervention specialist at Mid-East Technology Center. " I was excited for the opportunity to be able to work with him."

Growing up in Quaker City, Donnie became interested in working with special needs individuals after becoming attached to a pair of neighbors who also had Downs Syndrome.

"I had a neighbor Roger, and a little girl Barbie just up the street," he said. "They kind of inspired me to want to work with individuals with disabilities. When I was in high school, I was kind of wavering on the decision. Thought, maybe I want to be a physical education teacher.

"My high school football coach Bill Starr told me, no you need to be a special education teacher," Donnie added. "And I knew he was right so I became an intervention specialist and have never looked back on that decision. I just grew attached to people with disabilities from those early days growing up around Roger and Barbie. I knew I wanted to work and help them in any way I could."

Ethan came on board as a freshman and Donnie made him a team manager, a position he held for three years with the Buckeye Trail football team.

As the manager, Ethan would wear his helmet during practices which gave Donnie an idea: He should become a member of the team.

"So I talked to his mom, and talked to his doctors and he was cleared to play after his physical. So he joined the team for his senior year, and he went through practices and everything.

"Then, later that year, we were playing Strasburg, and the coach and I talked before the game," Donnie said. "I kind of explained Ethan's situation, and Ethan got to score a touchdown in a varsity football game."

Ethan has deferred his graduation from Buckeye Trail for now, an option he has until he turns 22. Ethan recently turned 21 and attends Mid-East. He plans to graduate from Buckeye Trail and Mid-East in June.

"Ethan has made me a better person," Donnie explained. "Because I can have conversations with him, we ride every day together from Mid-East to Buckeye Trail for practice ... We talk about anything from music or if something is bothering me or something bothering him. We are able to share our feelings with each other."

Donnie, along with his wife Amanda and daughters Avery, 13, and Laney, 9, truly feel Ethan is one of the family.

"He calls my wife and my daughters every day and spends a lot of time with us.

"I tell him all the time if his mom ever puts him up for adoption we are going to snatch him up. My girls think the world of him, and they get excited whenever Ethan comes around," Donnie added.

Ethan has also had a great influence on Buckeye Trail students. "Never once, have I ever seen him mistreated or left out. He is totally accepted and is the most popular kid at the school. They genuinely love Ethan," Donnie said.

Carpenter also enjoys serving as an honorary coach and is known for giving spirited talks to the football team members.

"After practice or a game, Ethan will get upset with me if I don't let him give one of his famous talks," Donnie stated. "Those are popular with the boys and they often will request an Ethan speech, as they call it. He can get them fired up during his talk. Our kids, really the entire Buckeye Trail community, embrace Ethan."

Seeing how he has been embraced by others is why Ethan's mother feels fortunate her son has met such special people within his Buckeye Trail family.

"It has been the best thing ever for him. Ethan has made friendships that I never thought were possible," Christina said. "He's been a part of something. I'm not going to lie when he was little we didn't know what was going to happen with Ethan, how he would function, and that kind of thing. We did get lucky, and he is very high functioning and does really well.

"The kids here at Buckeye Trail are the reason he's involved in everything. They get to be around him thanks to Donnie," she continued. "And the Rominger boys and Charlie Parry wanted him to be around and on the team. So I was like really, then once it was clear it was safe for him, we just went for it. It's been a great thing for him. This school at Buckeye Trail is his world, and I can't thank everyone involved enough for that."

kstutton1@gannett.com; @KSuttonDJSports

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Meet the most popular kid at Buckeye Trail