COTOPAXI — Kelsey Buss isn’t like other students.

“She is always smiling and you know when she’s smiling… she’s happy,” said Devin Gulliford, assistant volleyball and basketball coach.

“She just lightens everyone’s day,” said Cotopaxi School senior, Dane Devries.

And Cotopaxi School, isn’t like other schools. And when you mesh the two, good things can happen.

These are the sentiments of many coaches, teachers and students at the tiny school in a tiny mountain town in Colorado. And Kelsey’s mother said she couldn’t be happier with the hard work the school has gone through to help Kelsey reach her dreams of hitting the courts.

“I was hesitant about that. I thought, I don’t know if that’s going to work,” said Donna Buss, Kelsey’s mother.

Donna said she worried her daughter, who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, wouldn’t have the support services that larger schools offered. But, the small town school quickly proved her wrong.

“All the other kids I mean, the whole school, the whole community is great with her,” Gulliford said.

“It’s more than just basketball, it’s more than just the game, it’s about the relationships that we build with each other,” said Cotopaxi senior Annalise Walker.

And now, Kelsey has been playing sports for Cotopaxi for around five years.

“When I talked with the volleyball coach and the basketball coach… they said she’s going to play,” Donna said.

First encouraged by her siblings to play basketball and volleyball, Kelsey now inspires her teammates.

“She’s always giving 110%. Even when she’s tired she’s pushing through it always doing what we’re doing. She’s encouraging. We encourage her, she encourages us,” said Cotopaxi senior Sammi Devries.

In a tournament, coaches and onlookers said everyone roots for Kelsey.

“To watch the electricity in the gym for everybody when she gets on the floor and it’s not just Cotopaxi Pirates,” said history teacher Ryan Christensen.

Christensen said he’s also been able to watch as Kelsey has grown in leaps and bounds.

“She’s become more confident, especially the last three years playing basketball for me,” said the head girl’s basketball coach Troy Thornton.

The school turner her into a team player who’s not afraid to take the shot.

“She doesn’t hesitate to go into the game, she doesn’t hesitate in practice,” Thornton said. “She’s a strong teenage girl.”

Donna said it all comes back to the school always being there for Kelsey.

“Kelsey is getting so much from being included in everything, but over the years I’ve learned it’s a two-way street,” she said.

Several teachers and coaches said Kelsey has just as much to give back to them.

“When she walks in my room at eight o’clock in the morning with that smile, and she sits down and she’s looking at you, you can’t have a bad day,” Christen said.