Edison High student creates track and field meet for special-needs schoolmates
Edison High School junior Shane Yoshiyama is in the middle of studying and taking Advanced Placement tests, competing in track meets and preparing for finals in June. But even with all that on his plate, he has room to organize an event for special-needs students at his school.
On May 29, Yoshiyama will present the Huntington Beach campus’ first SAC Track event, a track and field meet for students in Edison’s Special Abilities Cluster program, which serves those with developmental disabilities.
The event will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Edison and will feature 50-, 100- and 400-meter races, a 4x100-meter relay race, a 50-meter wheelchair race, and long jump and shot put competitions, Yoshiyama said.
Yoshiyama, who has been running for Edison’s track and cross-country teams for three years, said he was inspired to organize the event after spending time with former track teammates and Edison graduates Jack and Haley Seward and their brother, Dean, who has Down syndrome, over the Fourth of July.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if Dean could experience the same sport … and enjoyment that his older siblings got to embark on and embrace so much during their time here at Edison?’” Yoshiyama said. “So my goal this year was to create an event that was inclusive to the SAC students here and give them experience that I have loved so much.”
Yoshiyama also is a member of Edison’s Best Buddies Club, which pairs students like him with those with special needs.
Edison is familiar with hosting events for special-needs students. Elliot Skolnick, the school’s special-programs administrator, who oversees the SAC program, said the baseball, football and swim teams have had similar gatherings.
Yoshiyama emphasized that putting on the track meet is not his way of earning credits or padding his college application.
“For community service, you should be doing a selfless act in order to better the community and yourself, to learn yourself as an individual, to discover the great attributes of others and to grow as a person,” he said. “You kind of devalue that when you incentivize community service with the idea of college credit and awards. It shouldn’t be about that.”
Skolnick, who has been helping Yoshiyama with the meet, said he was impressed with Yoshiyama’s drive and commended him for creating the event even though he is not earning academic credit for it.
“His heart is in the right place,” Skolnick said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of organization, and sometimes people don’t see how much work it takes to organize something like this.”