LSN



ABBEVILLE – Haylie Mouton is like any other seventh-grader at Forked Island/E.Broussard Elementary with the exception of her height.

She stands two-feet, eight inches tall, which makes her a dwarf.

Throughout the school year, she got tired of being called “little Hailey” by her friends at the school.

She knows she is small and does not have to be reminded of it daily.

“If someone would walk by and say, ‘hello, little Haylie.’ I would not tell them anything. I would ignore them.”

One day at school, she wrote in her daily journal that she does not like to be teased about being small. Her teacher read it and wanted to stop the teasing.

So, what Mouton did was go to every classroom at FIEB and speak her mind. She told the students, while she is small, she is also a normal 13-year-old.

The school’s Junior Beta Club came up with an idea to make everyone aware of little people.

The first-ever womanless pageant to help raise money for the Little People’s of America (LPA) was a big hit at Forked Island/E. Broussard Elementary.

The pageant was held by the school’s Jr. Beta Club to raise money for LPA.

When the night was over, a total of $1,572.55 was raised.

The school held the fund-raiser because of Seventh Grader Haylie Mouton who is a little person.

Mouton also increased awareness about people with short stature and their families by giving a wonderful speech and making posters.

LPA was informally started in 1957 when Billy Barty called upon people of short stature to join him in a get-together in Reno, Nevada. That original meeting of 21 people grew into Little People of America, a group which as of 2010 has more than 6,800 members.

Since the pageant and speaking to her classmates, Mouton does not get teased anymore.