Story by Brian Quinn/
Photos/video Alecia Kaus
Today was a chance for Special Olympics athletes to shine and several from five school districts and education programs took advantage of it.
Athletes from the Batavia City Schools, Elba and Byron-Bergen, Genesee Valley BOCES and New York State School for the Blind paraded down Richmond Avenue and Breydan VanSkyver carried the torch onto the track at VanDetta Stadium on a sunny morning to get the event going.
Parade to VanDetta Stadium from the NYS School for the Blind
“We’re doing track events, field events. We have some special events for youth that they’ll be doing – an obstacle course and things like that,” said School for the Blind adaptive physical education teacher Brendan Brady. “Throughout the day, they’ll be coming in with the parade, then they’ll be doing all the events, then we’ll close it out with some closing ceremonies.”
Brady said there were about 125-130 athletes there this morning.
“This is our second year of doing this program,” he said.
State Education Department Associate Commissioner of Special Education Christopher Suriano said the crowd was nice and loud this morning.
“It’s going to be an amazing day for all of us, especially for all the athletes who worked so hard to prepare for this special event today,” Suriano told the families and schools who were there. Kendall Carr sang the National Anthem, accompanied by VanSkyver on clarinet.
“We have students from Genesee Valley BOCES, which represents multiple districts in this local region, as well as our students from the New York State School for the Blind, which represents students from across the state,” he said.
Suriano and the spectators gave the athletes a round of applause for the athletes’ hard work. He also thanked the athletes’ parents and families for being there to support their kids.
“This is truly a very proud moment for all of us. It’s amazing to see how much this event has expanded with the student-athlete participation,” he said. “I’m confident it’s just going to continue to grow through the years.
Jamie Kendall, a one-to-one teacher’s aide at Genesee Valley BOCES, was standing at the fence as the Special Olympics were starting. Kendall said she works with some of these kids every day.
“I have worked with those other kids in the past and I do work with some, still,” she said of some of the high school Special Olympics kids out on the track. “I really enjoy working with these kids. They’re a really great group of kids.”
