My Leadership Experience In La Crosse

Last year was the first time I worked the Special Olympics, and I didn’t know what to expect. I signed up for it with my basketball team because the Special Olympians would be playing basketball and volunteers were needed to help run the scoreboard and keep time. Mr. Campbell, the man in charge, told me that the opportunity to play basketball will be an incredible experience for the special needs participants, but working the event will have an even greater affect on me. I was

With the help of teachers and my efforts, I have been successful and was even a recipient of an academic achievement award for students with a 3.6 GPA or higher. It is not always easy learning the materials, studying and placing my thoughts onto paper, yet I will continue to advocate for myself in any circumstance necessary. Despite having learning challenges in the classroom, it does not limit my activities outside of the classroom. I love to volunteer! One of my favorite activities includes being a volunteer buddy for the Miracle League of the Fox Valley. The Miracle League is a baseball organization for children and adolescents with physical and/or cognitive challenges. My role of a buddy is to assist my fellow buddy in any needs she may need, protect her from possible injuries and make sure she is having fun! I love having the opportunity of being a buddy, it has formed a forever lasting companionship and provided smiles that touch us all! Addition to the Miracle League, I’m a member of National Honor Society in which I volunteer in several community organizations to help better the community. I was honored to be selected as a Link Crew member. It has been one of my greatest opportunities to advocate for my peers with disabilities. This is a first time that Appleton North Link Crew created a program for students with physical and cognitive challenges to be included in a freshman transition program in

This event happens once a year and takes place at our high school stadium. Special needs kids come from all around my community to compete in events that best suit their physical or intellectual disabilities. It is truly astounding to see a whole community come together to support these kids. At this past year's Olympics I volunteered as a peer buddy and my responsibilities included walking my buddy, Luke, to his different events and making sure he was having a good time. Luke won first place in the ball throw and second place in the 100 meter dash. I loved seeing how happy he was when he was handed his ribbons and I was so fortunate to have been able to spend the day with

Over this past year, I was given the opportunity to take on two new leadership roles. The first was presented to me through my university. I was honored to accept the nomination as the president of Aurora’s athletic training club. This role consists of conducting meetings, mentoring new

Abstract: The Special Olympics not only give special athletes athletic skills, they offer more opportunity, encouragement, and dexterity to survive in society than the public school system alone. To understand the differences and similarities between handicapped athletes and their non-handicap peers is the first step in creating a program that best meets the child's needs. There were no community programs that catered to the mentally and physically challenged, so Eunice Kennedy-Shriver created "special games" in her back yard for her handicapped child. Shriver established the Special Olympics in 1968. Today there are more than one million special athletes competing in 140 countries. There are some problems with relying on the

It all started when MaxPreps, America’s source for high school sports organized a camp for upcoming basketball coaches from various states where we had to be out camping for five days, during this experience we will collaboratively fulfill various tasks delegated to each team participating in the event. Given my extensive experience in coaching,

I chose Special Olympics as my nonprofit organization because I think more people need to know more about it. The Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. There are concern about children with intellectual disabilities having very little opportunity to participate in athletic events. The history of the Special Olympics started in 1969. It was a backyard summer camp when children could

When I first started attending Manlius Pebble Hill, I didn't think that athletics would develop into a large part of my life. During my sophomore year I was granted the opportunity to take part in one of the greatest learning experiences in my life. The school had just hired a new basketball coach, and he came with the intentions to change our view on athletics at MPH. In the preceding years we had a record of about three wins, out of sixty games, and had somewhat given up hope on the notion of ever winning. However, when Coach Ike came he implemented lessons that would help nurture our love of basketball, and help us to become a successful team. He taught us how to ply together, and how to put the team and school we play for ahead of ourselves.

I had the opportunity to complete my service-learning hours with the North Carolina Special Olympics and the Golden Living Center. The North Carolina Special Olympics provides youth and young adults with disabilities the opportunity to train and play in sporting tournaments. Without fundraising events, the North Carolina Special Olympics would not be able to provide free the athletes with equipment, uniforms, training facilities, housing, and meals. It also spreads awareness of this incredible non-profit. I completed 12 service learning hours volunteering at two Special Olympics fundraising events: softball tournament and motorcycle run. At the softball tournament I participated in various activities throughout the day such as registering the

To begin with, I expected to just help as needed and be a standby for the coach. Little did I know, I would be participating and teaching the children my knowledge of basketball skills. The first day of practice only one child showed up with six volunteers, so we participated and practiced with the child. I noticed the child had apparent cognition delays and was unable to make a basket. I began to analyze his actions and learning techniques to figure out how I could help. In no time, I was able to design an intervention that would prepare the child to successfully shoot a basketball. I noticed his style of learning was repetitive motion so I told him to, “Bend your knees, and jump for the sky.”

Special Olympics transforms lives through the joy of sports, every day, everywhere. They are the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities. It reaches more than 4.5 million athletes in 170 countries, along with millions of volunteers and supporters. Every day, Special Olympics inspires hope, confidence, and courage. Not only do they change the lives of our athletes, but also the lives of our coaches, families, volunteers and others who have the opportunity to take part. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away. Unified sports is all about social inclusion and that’s why we started the Patrick Henry UniPHied Track Team. Patrick Henry UniPHied Track Team

I have a younger brother who has Cerebral Palsy. He also has a pacemaker because he experienced a 3rd degree heart block when he was born. He loves sports. The problem is he, like many other disabled kids, believe they’re unable to play sports. He has been the manager for all the athletic teams that my older brother and I have been on. Just being the manager was very hard for him. He was a part of the team, but always had to watch from the sidelines, never actually getting the opportunity to participate in the games. Seeing his feeling of heartache and sadness over the years motivated our family to look for ways he can participate in sports. We found Para Sport Athletics. Para Sport Organizations are teams or groups of disabled athletes who

Knowing that your camp offers general activities such as arts and crafts, music and games as well as more specialized programming like skating, visual arts, dance and sports, I believe that my skills that I have gained will be an asset to this position. Starting out with my time on the Outdoor Boys’ Soccer Team at my school, it has allowed me to experience what it feels like to be part of a group. To add on, being coached by my coach showed me ways that I should be as a person when I work with a group of students. This experience got me to become a volunteer at the Scarborough Town YMCA. From September 2014, I have assisted a soccer coach for a Youth and Teen soccer club. Here I embraced and improved on my leadership skills while working with the youth and teens as I coached them on soccer drills.

Special Olympics is an organization that is very important to me. Sports have played an integral role throughout my life and I cannot imagine not having the ability to do that because of a disability. The Special Olympics provides an opportunity for people who are disabled to enjoy everything that sports encompass. Last year as an LPH I got to see this first hand. I was Butler County's LPH and one of their volleyball teams won the gold. The whole team started crying because it had been 10 years since they had won. Just seeing the passion and emotion shown by the athletes was inspiring. My experience last year was everything and more than I could have ever expected and is why I am applying to be a VC this year.

One day in March I received a text message form my coach, Coach Michael Gongas. He asked me if I would like to assist in the lacrosse team’s involvement in the Special Olympics. I without hesitation, explained yes. Since high school