Hunter Brown, a 9-year-old boy, woke up on Friday and asked his mother if he had to go to school. After all, this was the day when he’d get to celebrate his new skill.
That afternoon, there would be a tailgate to celebrate the end of the semester for some students in the MU School for Health Professions. Hunter — from Ashland, Mo., just outside Columbia — would see the two occupational therapy students who taught him to catch and throw a baseball with his right hand, Makayla Thompson and Lyndi Plattner. The three of them, along with Hunter’s parents and other family, would then head uphill toward Taylor Stadium.