Buzzers sound, the hustle begins and students in Nixa’s Special Olympics compete for something worth more than the medals received. The Special Olympics games happened throughout the year, including an event on Jan. 28. The Special Olympics program is part of Special Olympics Missouri.
According to Special Olympics Missouri, the state organization was founded in 1968, when Eunice Kennedy Shriver formed it for people with special needs to also be able to play sports.
The group competed in multiple sports during the year for the students to participate in such as, flag football, bowling, kickball and basketball.
“For our athletes, I think their favorite … I want to say it’s a tie between football or basketball, but I think they shine more [at] basketball, because those are the two biggest sports of the school,” junior Isabelle Smith said.
Smith volunteers for the Special Olympics. She is considered a United Partner, allowing her to help coach the athletes and participate in some of the events.
“I think it helps them get together and make friends – like some older or younger – but also helps our athletes and other people in the community connect with them in a way that we wouldn’t normally see,” Smith said.
Head manager for Special Olympics, Kallie Howard, said the program was created to help students feel a sense of belonging and confidence. At Nixa, they have students from third to 12th grade.
“The Special Olympics program was created for kids to have a place where they feel accepted, valued and celebrated for who they are,” Howard said.
Howard said that joining the Special Olympics encourages teens to learn important social skills.
“Special Olympics helps kids learn how people are different while also showing them how much they have in common,” Howard said. “They learn empathy, communication and acceptance in a natural and meaningful way.”
Smith said that she has personally learned that it is not hard to be kind to people.
“A lot of the times… [when] students in our school see someone with special needs… they just cast them off to the side, and I really learned that compassion is so important – just with everybody,” Smith said.
Junior Jordan Phillips has been a unified partner with the Special Olympics since her freshman year of high school and has enjoyed seeing the students being able to play together.
“I think it’s important to me because I’m blessed with the [ability] to just play whatever sports I want to versus the [kids with special needs] don’t have that many opportunities to play sports outside of school,” Philips said. “I just really want to create a space and help this grow [for] anyone that wants to play sports.”
The high school also offers the Eagles Unified club, which helps build friendships, communities and leadership skills for people with and without disabilities.
“I think [the] Special Olympics is a great way to get involved in our community, and just really foster connections that you wouldn’t normally see in … your day to day classes,” Smith said. “It really helps boost morale and, even if you’re not involved in athletics, we have our unified club and you can come to those meetings and just be around people you wouldn’t normally see who are still worthy of your friendship and worthy of your time.”
