The LaSalle Parish Special Olympics will be held Thursday, March 20, at Guy Campbell Memorial Stadium on the campus of Jena High School.
Opening ceremonies will begin at 9:30 a.m. featuring the procession of athletes from schools located in La-Salle and Catahoula parishes.
“This is one of our area’s most anticipated events each year and the athletes look forward to competing and having fun,” stated LaSalle Parish School System Special Education Supervisor Jenene Bignar. “We look forward to having a large crowd of cheering fans join us as we celebrate our special olympians.”
The special education students will compete in various track and field events with awards presented throughout the morning as the competitions conclude.
The opening ceremonies will also include introductions and recognition to many area businesses and individuals who contribute financially to make the event possible.
“There is no way this event could be as successful as it is each year without the many in our community who contribute monetarily,” Bignar continued. “We especially want to thank our top two major sponsors, The GEO Group, Inc. and Premier Urgent Care, but there are really so many more businesses and individuals who show their love and support of our students by donating money.”
Special Olympics is an event like no other, as it allows students with disabilities to compete in olympic-style events and be rewarded with not only ribbons, but the applause of hundreds who attend.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw how unjustly and unfairly people with intellectual disabilities were treated. She also saw that many children with intellectual disabilities didn’t even have a place to play, so she decided to take action.
Soon, Shriver’s vision began to take shape. She held a summer day camp for young people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in her own backyard. The goal was to learn what these children could do in sports and other activities – and not dwell on what they could not do.
Throughout the 1960s, Shriver continued her pioneering work. She was the driving force behind President John F. Kennedy’s White House panel on people with ID. She directed the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and her vision and drive for justice grew into the Special Olympics movement.
The first Special Olympics International Summer Games were held in Chicago, IL on July 20, 1968. About 1,000 athletes with ID competed and it was so successful that Shriver pledged that more games would be held in 1970. That same year on December 2, a news conference was held to announce the formation of Special Olympics, Inc.
Today, Special Olympics boasts of 256 national and state programs, 207 countries and jurisdictions and 26,100 local programs. They have a global total of more than 4.2 million athletes in North America, Latin America, Middle East North Africa, Africa, Europe-Eurasia, East Asia and Asia Pacific.
For more information about Special Olympics, visit www.specialolympics.org. Locally, more information may be obtained by calling the LaSalle Parish Special Education Department at (318) 992-5971.