The annual Gifted Games, which allows students with disabilities to participate in athletic events in a non-competitive atmosphere, will be held Friday, April 26 at Gilroy High School.
The event started in 2005 with the Life Skills program at San Benito High School and later expanded to include all Hollister School District campuses and other schools in San Benito County. In 2011, the event expanded once more to include all preschool through high school age students in San Benito County and the Gilroy Unified School District.
The Gifted Games have been held in alternating years at the San Benito and Gilroy high school stadiums, though the upcoming games will be hosted in Gilroy for the second straight year because of the construction of the new stadium in Hollister.
The event will begin with an opening ceremony featuring the Gilroy High School marching band, the national anthem sung by the Gilroy High School Chamber Ensemble and an opening from Gilroy High School principal Marco Sanchez.
The Gifted Cheer teams from San Benito and Gilroy High will perform and emcees Don and Bria DeLorenzo will kick things off.
Events include the mile race, field events, wheelchair races, 50- and 100-yard dashes and lunch at 12:30pm. The field events include softball throw, turbo jav throw, Frisbee throw, soccer ball kick, standing long jump and running long jump.
San Benito County schools represented include San Benito High School, Rancho San Justo Middle School, Cerra Vista, R.O. Hardin, Sunnyslope, and Ladd Lane elementary schools, Chamberlain’s Children Center, as well as Social Vocational Services and Hope Services.
Participating Gilroy schools are Gilroy and Christopher high schools, Brownell, Solarsano and South Valley middle schools, Antonio Del Buono, El Roble, Glen View, Las Animas, Luigi Aprea and Rucker elementary schools, Swanson Lane Preschool and the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
