THUNDER BAY - Sports are a part of nearly every high school experience, and students participating in a new peer mentorship program at area high schools are making sure every student can take to the hardwood or hit the track.
Five high schools in Thunder Bay participated in the Special Olympics Ontario Basketball Tournament Tuesday at the Lakehead University Fieldhouse.
“It’s a great event for all the kids,” said Carole Komistek, a special education teacher at St. Ignatius High School. “It’s an incredible opportunity for all the kids and for all the special education kids and all the kids (with special needs) to have a great time, come together, play sports, interact with each other, and possibly end up in Toronto.”
The basketball tournament is one of four events that students from St. Patrick’s High School, La Vérendrye High School, Westgate C.V.I, Hammarskjold High School, and St. Ignatius High School will be participating in this year. The other events include bocce ball, floor hockey, and track and field.
The school that wins the local tournament will qualify to go to Toronto to participate in the provincial tournament.
Komistek said that basketball tournament is only possible because of the great work of students who are part of the peer mentorship program.
“The peer mentor program is probably one of the best programs that have been put into the school system,” she said. “It has allowed kids who are mentors and who want to be mentors to work with kids with special needs. It’s an incredible time, it’s good for the kids, and it’s great for the mentors.”
Jett Johnson, a grade 12 student at St. Ignatius, has been with the peer mentorship program since September and he said it is important to create a sense of inclusion in the school for all students.
“It’s important that we develop social skills with kids with special needs,” he said. “It’s better for the future if we start at a younger age and work at inclusion to gain that knowledge of working with people with special needs.”
Johnson was working alongside Elizabeth Dixon, a grade 11 student at St. Ignatius, who said the tournament has been a lot of fun and she has been looking forward to it for a long time.
“It’s fun,” she said. “I made new friends this semester. I look forward to class every day.”
“I was kind of nervous to start this class, to be honest,” Johnson continued. “Working with kids with special needs, I’ve never done it before, but I was able to gain friendships with them, play with them, learn how to operate with them and that’s what I sort of gained from that. I hope that kids younger than me are able to join the class too and gain that knowledge.”
Komistek said the peer mentorship program has been at St. Ignatius for five years and it has grown massively since it first started.
“The kids are much more included in the school system,” she said. “Kids are saying hi and giving them high fives. The whole mentorship program has given our kids a great wealth of confidence being out in the community.”
“The high schools have all their great teams, basketball, football, and all that stuff that goes on in a regular high school,” Komistek continued. “This gives our students an opportunity to participate and feel like they are part of the school and with the leaders, they are part of the school.”
More than 100 students participated in the tournament. Johnson said it has all be worth it, because just seeing the excitement of the students as they hit the court or cheer on the team is enough to brighten anyone’s day.
“Just seeing the smiles on their faces will lighten up your day,” he said. “I was working with a special needs student named Mitchel and he got a basket and just seeing the smile on his face lightened up my day.”
