I Met My Buddy at Special Olympics 2012
Katherine Koss
April 26, 2012
Filed under News
One of the best days of the year in the spring time for students who like to get involved are the Special Olympics.
This is a program for children with special needs ranging from a learning disability all the way to being mentally handicapped. Special Olympics were at Midland Valley High School this year on April 13, from 9:00 to 12:30. Basically every student either gets a student with a special need and they stay with them all day, or a person will work at a booth for arts and crafts. It is such a good time and it really made an impact on the kids and students this year.
The Newspaper Staff is in charge of buddying up partners and giving each student the chance to choose a buddy going from all ages. TYJ works with students from Wagner Salley and Will Harris, a senior had a great and impacting experience this year. He had a five year old buddy named Sir Joseph Walker. The most impacting experience that he had with Sir Joseph was watching him play and enjoy the sports so much. “I wondered if he got to do these sports and activities at home so I was happy that he had a lot of fun.”
Some of the kids that came to Special Olympics may not have the best home life so whenever students get to interact and make a difference on a child’s life, it can be life altering. One of the younger girls that came from Wagner Salley cried when it was time to leave at 12:30. Not only because she was sad to leave her buddy, but she may not get that type of attention at home and she enjoyed being with her buddy all day who was constantly giving her attention.
Some of the activities that go on during Special Olympics are events which include running, jumping and throwing different items, usually these are for children who are in middle school. For the younger children, ages from Pre-K to third grade, they got to do arts and crafts.
Everybody at Special Olympics got a medal because they are all winners. Everybody that participated in Special Olympics deserved to be recognized, they are all special in their own way. The volunteers will never forget their buddy and cherish the time that they spent together that day.
