by Isabella Ruiz, Reporter, WVTV
AURORA – Waubonsie Valley Special Olympics basketball is preparing to take on the STEPS program for its Pack the Place game on Wednesday night. Special Olympics is a variety of sports where student athletes can play soccer, track and field, bowling, swimming and basketball.
“Athletes and peers come together, individuals with disabilities and their peers support the athletes in these sports,” said student services teacher Taylor Schuch. “Some sports we have are unified, which means that the peers and the athletes both play together, and some sports are just special Olympic sports, like we have basketball, all of our athletes have a disability.”
Schuch says special Olympics is really important because it promotes inclusivity among both the athletes and peers. “It promotes socialization for our athletes. It allows general education peers and special education athletes to come together, kind of get to know each other and support each other in all these different sports.”
Pack the Place provides the opportunity for the entire school and student body to support these student athletes.
“Pack the Place is important because it allows pretty much the whole school, the whole student body to come see how our athletes interact with each other and kind of see the abilities that they have when they’re on the court, see that individuals with disabilities can participate in sports and activities just like their general education peers.
Pack the Place is Wednesday December 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the WV Main Gym.