Ocean View School District has a ‘Special’ day
Eulices Bañuelos held his phone up in the gym at Oak View Elementary School on Friday morning, capturing the moment as he beamed with pride.
His son Nolan, 5, is a kindergarten student at Star View. He’s also autistic.
But on this day, he was just a kid playing with friends as the Ocean View School District held the first part of its 33rd annual Special Olympics event.
“He’s pretty pumped up, as you can see,” Eulices Bañuelos said as Nolan shot basketballs toward the rim with his classmates. “This is an opportunity to get to see them interact with each other and enjoy themselves, watch them laugh and get to be themselves. There’s so much joy and happiness. It makes me happy. Bringing everyone closer together, that’s what matters most.”
Special Olympics holds a special place in the district, particularly at Village View. It was originally launched for Village View’s Services for Students With Disabilities students and mod/severe classes from other schools but was expanded in 2019 to include all special day classes from all schools.
Friday’s event included 197 students from Oak View, Westmont, Star View and Hope View elementary schools, as well as Vista View, Mesa View and Spring View middle schools. The district’s other schools will celebrate with their own Special Olympics next Friday, June 7 at Village View.
The Special Olympics are near and dear to Oak View Principal Jenna Landero’s heart. Not only was she formerly a special education teacher at Village View, but she said she has a 5-year-old son who is severely autistic.
“Our kids do not meet developmental milestones like everyone else,” Landero said. “For some of our students, the fact they’re walking, or able to run, or able to pick up a ball and throw it, that’s a huge deal. But our typically developing peers, and parents of those children, don’t always understand that.
“I love that it’s the one day that our kids that typically are on the sidelines actually are featured. That’s my favorite part about it.”
After an opening ceremony, students competed at 14 different stations on the Oak View campus, with activities like a Frisbee toss, dart throw, bowling, soccer and more.
General education students also play a role, as fifth-graders from the host schools volunteer to help run the stations. In the gym, Oak View teacher Wendy Grant led her second-grade class in pom-pom cheers and chants of encouragement for each school.
Ronda O’Neill-Wong, a teacher at Spring View, is another big proponent of the spectacle. She leads the extensive needs program, for the most severely impacted students.
Her own daughter, now almost 30, still competes with Special Olympics in bocce ball. O’Neill-Wong said that her daughter still plays with friends that she met at Spring View.
“They’re just having the best time,” O’Neill-Wong said as she watched her students Friday. “It’s something that they can participate in on their level, and it gives them some independence.”
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