More Fun Had by All: Special Olympics Young Athletes Student Reflection

This morning our set up began at 9:30 where we discussed today’s plans and expectations. Today’s session was in the Stone Gym, a new space with a lot of extra equipment and the bleachers. We knew we had to be on high alert! Our volunteers waited eagerly by the door to escort the athletes to the gym. After adjusting to the new space for a while, we then began our opening stretch, led by Ava M., which consisted of some dynamic stretches and some static stretches.

This was followed by a quick round of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” before we split into groups and started with the main activities that were set up. Our Level 1 athletes spent their time playing “spot it”, crawling through the tunnels, and racing through obstacle courses, while our Level 2 athletes continued their basketball season and even played a 2v2 scrimmage!

As the day wrapped up, our Level 1 athletes had some time with the parachute and our Level 2 athletes played a few games of “red light, green light” before we met in the middle for our closing stretch and song. We of course had to finish with “head, shoulders, knees, and toes”, our favorite closing song, before saying our goodbyes and cleaning up.

Sadie Styles ’24