THUNDER BAY – Trying to stay active was tough on all athletes.
But one group of youngsters and their teachers and support workers went above and beyond to makes sure they didn't skip a beat during the worst of their pandemic.
On Tuesday students at Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute were recognized as the Team of the Year by Special Olympics Ontario, an honour that had them pumping their fists in the air as they accepted their personalized, engraved trophies as a lifelong reminder of their achievement.
It's was thrilling, said Dakota McMurrich, a Grade 12 student at the south-side school.
“Honestly, I was thrilled,” she said.
“I've been in Special Olympics for a few years now and when I saw the trophies I was super excited. I never got a trophy before, so it's so exciting to see that we all got awards from Special Olympics.”
It's been a struggle over the past couple of school years, she added.
“It was really tough and sad. It was fun doing the sports and we didn't do them I was really sad and disappointed,” McMurrich said.
Kyllie Daniar, a special needs teacher at Westgate, said the kids really deserved the recognition, for continuing to compete despite not being able to do it in person.
It would have been easy to give up, but they made the most of their new virtual reality.
“I've been involved in sports all my life and this by far one of the top highlights of their lives. During all the craziness of the pandemic and the hard times that our students have faced, the adversity and the dedication they've shown through the Special O aspect of virtual competition has just been really amazing,” Daniar said.
“The morale has never been higher in our program.”
Westgate wasn't alone, she added, but the special needs students have come through with mostly flying colours.
“Our program has been really great at trying to be as inclusive as we can, whether it was learning at home, doing virtual activities through the school, within our cohorts, just keeping a positive attitude and just having it be fun, is really what was the buy-in for us and we saw great success. This is a huge honour for our students,” Daniar said.
