Special Olympics

At Westlake Academy there is a club called Project Unify. This is where student come together to learn about children who have disabilities. It is a new club, but being involved with the club has opened so many opportunities for me to get active in my community and help out, but also learn so much, by gaining so much respect for these kids and their families. This year, a group of us took part in going to teh Special Olympics located in Denton this year, and help as volunteers. My job personally was to wait at the finish line of the running races and dashes, to catch the participants, and th
en congragulate them and just give them words of encouragement. Going into the job, to be honest, I was a little bit nervous. The lady helping us with the Special Olympics warned us of what to do and what not to do. I learned that treating them like any other person was the best way to go. They loved when I talked to them like they were my friend, not anything less. It made them feel capable of doing more than other people give them credit for! I really enjoyed doing this. I learned so much those two days, and definitly know I want to go back next year. I gained respect for people in my community, that before I knew little about. In addition to helping with the athletes face to face, I also did some behind the scenes work with folding T-shirts for the merchandise and helping the loving ladies that ran the event as well! Throughout the whole process, I had to continuously consider my ethical implications for the actions I took due to the unfamiliar environment I was placed in.
Below are pictures from the days at Special Olympics on 4/19/13 and 4/20/13!!!

One of our tasks was to fold shirts for the ladies at the front so that they could sell more T-shirts to benefit non-profitable organizations.

My group that I worked with at the event!

Instagram posts that our Project Unify teacher uploaded after the special olympics day!