3 Takeaways:

• The event marks the first-ever Special Olympics Field Day in the SRPMIC.
• Kids participated in a variety of games such as cornhole, a relay race, soccer, bocce and more.
• Field Day spotlighted the need for Native American youth with special needs to experience what other athletes experience daily.

Salt River Schools (SRS) and Special Olympics Arizona partnered on Nov. 7 at the Accelerated Learning Academy soccer fields to provide about 60 Salt River Elementary School special education student-athletes a field day filled with athletic and skill-building activities they would not soon forget.

The kids participated in yard games, putting, bowling, cornhole, soccer, baseball, bocce and a relay race with members of the Salt River Police Department (SRPD).

“We’re excited to have some elementary school kiddos come out here and participate in certain events that simulate what Special Olympics is like, so that hopefully at some point they can come out and participate in some of our sports and activities with the rest of the communities,” said Jamie Heckerman, president and CEO at Special Olympics Arizona.

“It’s so much fun just to see the Community come together. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen a community rally behind their students like this.”

Heckerman is excited to partner with the SRPMIC long into the future.

Volunteers from Salt River Schools helped lead the teams of kids, and volunteers from Community departments and business partners were onsite to run the activities and events.

Business partners included the SRPD, Medieval Times, Talking Stick Resort Golf Club and Great Wolf Lodge, among others.

SRS Superintendent and Director of Education Sheryl Houston said that the field day creates a safe place for the kids, surrounding them with the support of community, parents and the Education staff.

“We have a huge turnout of volunteers today, which shows the support for our children,” said Houston. “This is really important when we think about educational supports and funding for our special education students, because we want to ensure that all children have what they need to be successful, to fully experience education and have a great time doing it.”

SRPD Public Relations Officer Damian Bia and his team supported kids as they ran through an obstacle course. This was their second time working with Special Olympics Arizona, the other time being at the Law Enforcement Guardian Games held outside the Community.

“We enjoy coming here. We enjoy participating, and we enjoy everything about this event. It’s great,” said Bia.

SRS Communications & Public Relations Administrator Taté Walker felt it was especially important for Community-member kids to have this experience as Native American youth with special needs. “We’re at a time in our society when those needs across the board are not being met by the federal government,” Walker stated.

“This kind of event really opens the discussion of, ‘What do our Native kids, our most at-risk kids, the neediest kids need?’ When we can come together at an event like this, not just for fun or for movement, but as a Community and for uplifting, I really feel that brings in another layer of what it is to celebrate being Native American,” said Walker.

“It’s more than just the surface-level feathers and powwows. It’s our kids who need quality education, and they need funding for that quality education, and we need to come together to do that somehow. Hopefully that opens the conversation.”