Special needs students at San Benito High School will compete in
their first Special Olympics in nearly eight years.
Special needs students at San Benito High School will compete in their first Special Olympics in nearly eight years.
Ramona Trevino, the teacher of the severely disabled class at San Benito High School, said in her eight years there they haven’t had Special Olympics competitors.
San Benito County doesn’t have its own Special Olympics. So this year the high school was invited to the games being held at North Salinas High School on April 18, she said.
“We are taking eight of our kids,” she said.
Trevino said there will be more than 5,000 kids there. Health teacher and Athletic Director at San Benito High School Dave Tari said there will be about five to six events. They will compete in the long jump, softball throw, turbo javelin, 100-meter dash and the mile, he said.
“Our whole team races against each other, or long jump, softball toss, whatever that event is,” Tari said.
Tari said the kids do the whole event and don’t compete against other students. The kids are used to competing against each other and Tari would like to change it to where the kids compete against other schools’ students, he said. Competing against other kids would allow them to get to know other students out there, he said.
Trevino said this is sort of like a pilot year to see if they like it – but she’s confident they will.
The people putting on the Special Olympics are lending the equipment such as measuring tapes, javelin throws, softballs and a full description of how to train the kids, she said.
“I’ve always wanted to work with them but never been able to” Trevino said.
This past Monday, the coaches were working with the kids to get them ready for the April 18 games. They were working on the simple stuff, such as staying in the lanes and trying to get them on mark for the races, Tari said.
“We’re trying to get these kids interested in exercise,” Tari said. “A lot (of them) are out of shape.”
It’s very difficult sometimes to plan P.E. when you have to look at the kids’ needs and what they can and can’t do, he said.
Jayme Telles, a senior at San Benito High School, said it’s a really rewarding experience working with these kids.
“It’s fun to participate and do the activities with them,” she said.
Three years ago Tari and Trevino started the Baler Gifted Games, which is similar to the Special Olympics.
It happened after Trevino needed help in her Life Skills class with swimming, and Tari’s advance class started helping those students class with swimming lessons, Trevino said.
They both wanted to do something where the kids could compete, and so they started the Baler Gifted Games, she said.
“We work well together,” Trevino said.
Students compete in a three-legged race, sack race and an obstacle course, Tari said. The gifted games are at the end of May.
Tari said he has never had a student who didn’t want to work with the special needs students.
Danny Ayale, a senior at San Benito High School, said he enjoys being a part of the class. These kids are fun to hang out with, he said.
“I want to give them a positive attitude towards life, he said.
Ayale has been working with a deaf and mute girl. He has taught her how to say apple and banana and how to clap, he said.
Trevino is doing an exercise and diet project with her special needs students for her master’s thesis, Tari said. She wants to show parents how important exercise is for these kids on a regular basis, he said.
Trevino said she wants to get a weekly log to send home so parents have something can log what the kids eat and drink.
Right now the coaches are logging in the kids’ snacks and lunch at school, she said, and there is a computer program in which she can log height, weight and age of each kid. It gives her the total calories recommended for their diets, she said.
Trevino also said she wants to send home weekly healthy recipes for kids to learn.
