Harrisonville students grant a dream

Jordan Overcast is only 7, but that doesn’t mean she’s too young for her dreams to come true.

Students at Harrisonville High School dedicated hundreds of posts on social media to encourage Jordan’s idol, singer Taylor Swift, to meet with Jordan using the hashtag “Taylor meet Jordan.” The hashtag began with the school’s public relations class.

And Tuesday evening before the singer’s concert at the Sprint Center, Swift answered the campaign’s call by meeting with Jordan and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

When Jordan was 2, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and doctors gave her a year to live, according to the family. She has undergone surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Earlier this summer, Jordan’s mother and grandmother, Misty and Donna Overcast, shaved their heads after Jordan lost her hair during another round of treatment.

“I would take this cancer from her and put it upon myself if I could, so I will support her in any way I can,” her grandmother said.

Jordan spent about 25 minutes with Swift. During the concert the family sat with Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift.

Misty Overcast thanked all of the Harrisonville students who she said made her daughter’s dream come true.

“Everybody who did hashtag Taylor meet Jordan, we can’t thank you guys enough,” Overcast said. “Jordan was so excited about meeting Taylor Swift last night. It was a tearjerker.”

Aside from meeting her idol, Jordan was granted yet another dream with the help of the Harrisonville students.

At the school’s homecoming ceremony at Memorial Stadium Sept. 18, which a tornado postponed but could not prevent, Jordan was crowned homecoming queen.

Though senior Katelyn McKinnis had been voted queen by her peers, she immediately found Jordan and placed the crown on her head instead.

“It was such a good (time) to give her the opportunity at such a young age and (with) all the stuff she’s been through,” McKinnis said.

Harrisonville School District Superintendent Frank Dahman commended students for granting Jordan a night to remember.

“When she was crowned homecoming queen and our student section chanted her name, I felt the love and community we have as Wildcats,” he wrote in a letter to the community.

For Jordan’s grandmother, the homecoming crowning served as just one in a series of moving gestures made possible for the young girl.

“Tonight is very special for my whole family,” Overcast said. “A little girl’s dream of being a princess is coming true at a very early age.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Harrisonville students grant a dream."