Blog 8: Final Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I was not looking forward to taking this class.  Primarily, because I was not strong at writing and public speaking.  As the semester went on I think I became a strong writer and I became more comfortable with public speaking.  The writing assignments for this class were somewhat different than any other writing classes I had taken.  I enjoyed the blogs because they weren't too difficult and they helped me to slowly work up to the larger assignments we had later in the semester.  I found the story board paper to be the most difficult assignment we had all semester because it was hard for me to plan out a documentary with little video footage.  It was also very hard to meet word requirement for that assignment and I found it a little unreasonable.  Surprisingly creating the documentary was a lot easier than I expected it to be and I also really enjoyed it over all of our other papers and presentations in the class.  This class helped me to realize that I am not as poor of a writer as I originally thought and that with time and effort comes success in the writing world.

Storyboard

McKenzie Sanchez

Jennifer Hudgens 

WRD110

11/17/15 

Documentary Storyboard

The opening scene for my documentary will be muted video clips of the Special Olympics, as the clips are rolling I will introduce to my audience to what the Special Olympics is by giving a brief summary of the history and purpose.  I will say, “Founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics has become the largest sports organization for anyone with an intellectual disability.  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Eunice recognized the unfair treatment people with intellectual disabilities were receiving”(Beaudoin 1).  I will then flash some picture from 1968 Special Olympics Games and say, “In Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field, in 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held.  This was a beginning to something amazing that now today, impacts over 4.5 million athletes with intellectual disabilities in 170 countries” (Beaudoin 1).  This will be the end of my introduction and my documentary will now address an issue within the Special Olympics community.

        For the Special Olympics community I am addressing the issue of people misusing the word retard and making fun of Special Olympics.  To grab the attention of my viewers I plan to start my documentary off with a video clip of Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View speaking about the issue of how people crack jokes about The Special Olympics, specifically Barack Obama on Late Night with Jay Leno.  I think this will draw in my audience because it shows how even the President of the United States inappropriately mocks the Special Olympics. This happens  regularly because people use the terms as a way to degrade people or joke when they do something foolish.  After Elisabeth is done talking I will include the actual clip of when Obama said this on Late Night.  After this video clip, my documentary will lead into showing how not only the President conforms to this poor word choice but also all of society.

        To express how all of society is involved in using the R-word and making fun of Special Olympics my second scene will be opening up with Whoopi Goldberg on The View.  In this clip, she explains how the word retard or retarded is used in T.V. shows, commercials, etc. so often that it has become a “part of our language for describing folk”.  My documentary will then transition to multiple video clips of examples of when T.V. shows, movies, and comedians have misused the word retard and made fun of special olympics.  My examples include a scene from the Hangover, Rick and Morty, Tropic Thunder, Jennifer Aniston  on “Live with Regis and Kelly”, and a clip from a comedy act.  I think the inclusion of these short clips are important  because they will help people realize how often the R-word is misused in multiple different situations.  After the video clips, I will insert a small clip from of a youtube video of a teenage boy saying “You retards are pissing me off, stop being so retarded with the word retarded”.  I think this will grab everyones attention because of how straight forward and blunt the boy is about the topic.  This video clip will be the end of the examples of the issue and it will lead a black screen that says “Everyday people uses the word retarded without considering the innocent people they are hurting”.  I am inserting this slide to change the tone of my documentary to be more serious.  I will have the song Ludovico Einaudi by Nuvole Binache playing in the background, it is a sad slow piano solo.  I chose this song because it dramatizes the importance of this issue and will help pull at the emotions of my audience while they are viewing it.

 

      

       After the black slide, my interview with a Special Olympics coach/Special Ed teacher, Mrs. Winarski, from Saint Charles East High School will be inserted.  In this interview my questions will be: What do you think about people using the word retard at inappropriate times? and What are some examples of when people have misused the R-word and/or made fun of Special Olympics that you have experienced?  As I play her recorded answers to my questions Ludovico Einaudi will continue to play in the background of the video but in a more softer tone so the viewers are able to comprehend what Mrs. Winarski is saying.  I am hoping this interview will help open up my viewers eyes to how big of an issue it is to misuse the R-word and how hurtful it can be.  I helped Mrs. Winarski coach Special Olympics all four years of high school so I know how strongly she feels about her athletes and students being treated fairly.  I find it important to include this interview because it will give my viewers an insight to how Special Olympic coaches and Special Ed teachers feel about people disrespecting their athletes and students.  This interview will then transfer to another black screen with a message.

The black screen will say “The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It's offensive. It's derogatory”(Gang 1).   Right after the black screen, I put a PSA that Lauren Potter and Jane Lynch from GLEE are a part of.  In this PSA  people from different classified groups state how it is not acceptable to call them a slur name in order to discriminate against them.  For example a black man said “It is not acceptable to call me the N-word”.  This PSA is a way to help get the point across to people of how inappropriate it is to say the R-word.  Saying the R-word is just as bad as saying the N-word, both minority slurs are used to discriminate against a certain group of people in a hurtful manor.  At the end of the PSA Lauren says “It is not acceptable to call me a retard or call yourself or your friends retarded when they do something foolish”.  This clip is important because she is an actress with an intellectual disability taking a stand for not only herself but also all the other other people with intellectual disabilities in the world. 

       The next scene included will be parts of an interview from John C. McGinley on Fox 31 News Everyday, in this interview he discusses how you should treat the R-word as any other bad word because “when you use the word retard or retarded, it perpetuates a negative stigma about a  population of people who didn't do anything to you”.  John also explains how there is a difference in using the R-word compared to any other minority slur word. The difference being, that there is no consequence for the people misusing the R-word.  Meaning, they are picking on a population of people who will not do anything back to them.  My purpose for including this video of John is that I am hoping for my audience to realize how rude and inconsiderate it is to make fun of a group of people who are innocent. 

The last clip is of  Jonny Knoxville and Eddie Barbenell covering the issue of calling people retarded.  Eddie has down’s syndrome and inspirationally says “Break down every wall  you can. I break them.  I broke that obstacle, the obstacle will never get in my way.  And if anybody puts me down and makes fun of me, you know what, they're not my friend”.  As Eddie speaks I plan to insert clips of a Special Olympic event. I want to mute the video of the sport event and have Eddie’s voice be a voice over of it.  I have not yet chosen my video for this selection yet but I plan to find a video of an Special Olympic athlete competing in a track competition and I will put the video in slow motion to enhance the deepness of Eddie’s motivational words.  I want this section of my documentary be very motivational and moving to my viewers.  I want to motivate people with out an intellectual disability to stop using the R-word and I want to motivate people with intellectual disabilities to not let the label hold them back in life.  This motivational scene will lead to my next scene which is my call to action.

        The beginning of my last scene will begin with another black screen that says “Spread The Word To End The Word” with the song I Lived by One Republic playing in the background.  I chose this song because it is inspirational and it gives people motivation to do what they want.  I will first have another part of the interview with Mrs. Winarski inserted, I will ask her: What does Spread the Word to End the Word mean?  After her response the music will continue to play and I will have multiple clips of people holding up a sign towards the camera saying “Spread the Word to End the Word” with clips of video footage from Special Olympics Games in between each video clips of the people speaking.  I will include one more black screen, the first one saying, “There are 576,593 online pledges, join us to Spread the Word and End the Word” (Gang).  I am hoping this last scene will help to get the point across so that I can feel as if my audience will be left inspired when my documentary is over.  As the song continues to play the credits will begin to roll and my documentary will be over. 

Work Cited

"ABC's "The View" Discusses the R-word." YouTube. EndtheRword, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/5_mFm0c0jDg>.

Barack Obama Special Olympics Insult. Perf. Barack Obama and Jay Leno. YouTube. ColonelCurtiss, 6 June 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/2HOBTUCv4o0>.  

Beaudoin, Lisa. "Help Us Make a Difference!" Special Olympics: History of Special Olympics. Perfect Sense Digital, 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.specialolympics.org/ history.aspx>.

Beaudoin, Lisa. "Help Us Make a Difference!" Special Olympics: Special Olympics Mission. Perfect Sense Digital, 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.specialolympics.org/ mission.aspx>.

"Daniel Tosh - Retard Joke." YouTube. RicoLen1, 7 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https:// youtu.be/qL6jOqKOJtY>.

Gang, David. "Spread the Word to End the Word." R-word. Perfect Sense, 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.r-word.org/Default.aspx>.

"He Was a Retard - Hangover Clip." YouTube. Ryan Carey, 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/V8ftMh4MKKw>.

"John C. McGinley Talks R-word." YouTube. EndtheRword, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/04Ser5wmPSA>.

"Johnny Knoxville, Eddie Barbanell and the R-word." YouTube. EndtheRword, 18 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/RfMlrTV_5vY>.

"Never Go Full Retard." YouTube. The Necromancer, 4 Aug. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https:// youtu.be/oAKG-kbKeIo>.

"Not Acceptable R-word PSA." YouTube. EndtheRword, 20 May 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://youtu.be/T549VoLca_Q>.

"Rick & Morty - Retarded." YouTube. Three14, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https:// youtu.be/eOBoKxEcVAA>.

"The Word "Retard"" YouTube. OnisionSpeaks, 8 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https:// youtu.be/_coCM-KGJIU>.

Blog 7: Reflection on Process

While in the process of creating my documentary I have recorded some videos and found some youtube clips to include.  I have also done more research on my issue and have found sounds to imbed into the background of my documentary.  I am looking forward to putting together everything for my documentary and seeing the final project.  While researching I have learned that many people mis-use the word retard or make fun of Special Olympics without thinking about who they are offending.  The saying "spread the word to end the word" is the issue I am addressing in my documentary.  This saying is a national attempt to encourage people to stop using the word retard because it is offensive and dehumanizing to people with intellectual disabilities.  I find writing a storyboard is very difficult for me because it is hard for me to picture exactly what I want for my documentary to be like.  I think as I continue to collect more video footage and go to the media hub in the basement of the library I will have a better understanding of how I want my documentary to be.  

Blog 6: Secondary Source 2

Harada, Coreen M., and Gary N. Siperstein. "The Sport Experience Of Athletes With Intellectual Disabilities: A National Survey Of Special Olympics Athletes And Their Families." Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 26.1 (2009): 68-85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

I found my second secondary source through the UK libraries database.  This source was a study done to analyze the experience athletes have who are a part of Special Olympics.  This was a national study done on 1,307 families and 579 athletes about the involvement, motives, and their reason for leaving Special Olympics.  The results of the study were: 
-54% participate for fun
-21% participate for social interaction
-38% leave because change in interest
-33% leave because of program availability

This source is useful for my project because it shows a deeper meaning for why athletes with intellectual disabilities participate in or leave Special Olympics.  This study also talks about the similarity between athletes without an ID, compared to athletes with an ID.   

Blog 5: Secondary Source 1

Li, Chunxiao, and Chee Keng John Wang. "Effect Of Exposure To Special Olympic Games On Attitudes Of Volunteers Towards Inclusion Of People With Intellectual Disabilities." Journal Of Applied Research In Intellectual Disabilities 26.6 (2013): 515-521. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

I found my first secondary source through the UK library database.  This source is about a study done to “examine the effect of volunteering for Special Olympics Games (SOG) on the attitudes of volunteers towards inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities” (Li 1).  The results of this study were that if volunteers were exposed to one week of Special Olympics Games then their attitudes towards including people with intellectual disabilities would improve greatly.  The conclusion of this study was that the effect of one week exposure would last for up to one month.  

This source is useful to my project because it supports the idea of how being involved in Special Olympics is beneficial to both the athletes and the volunteers. I also believe that if people knew more about Special Olympics volunteering opportunities and the positive things that come out of it, then more people would be willing to volunteer and donate.  This article covers some important points that I discussed in my photo essay and I found it interesting that there was a study done on how the volunteers are affected opposed to the athletes by Special Olympics Games.

Photo Essay

McKenzie Sanchez

Jennifer Hudgens

WRD110

10/13/15

Special Olympics Photo Essay

Founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics has become the largest sports organization for anyone with an intellectual disability.  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Eunice recognized the unfair treatment people with intellectual disabilities were receiving.  This recognition lead to her starting up a small summer camp in her backyard for children with intellectual disabilities.  The purpose of this camp was to provide a place for these children to play and explore their athletic strengths instead of being put down for their weaknesses (History 1).  Eunice continued to fight for equality and justice for the people with intellectual disabilities throughout the 1960s, as she was the director of the Joseph P. Kennedy JR. Foundation.  This foundation had focused on how to prevent intellectual disabilities and the ways society should treat people with I.D..  In Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field, in 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held.  This was a beginning to something amazing that now today, impacts over 4.5 million athletes with intellectual disabilities in 170 countries.  

I chose the article Special Olympics Mission, because it gives a good explanation of what the point of Special Olympics is and the importance of it.  The mission is to help improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and to “focus on what our athletes CAN do, not what they can’t” (Mission 1).  Special Olympics does not only benefit the athletes but also their families.  Families are able to connect on a level that they would not be able to reach with just anybody.  Athletes are also able to form strong friendships with people similar to them and their own disabilities.  These connections help them to grow and discover new strengths allowing many ways for the athlete to express who they are.  

At Saint Charles East High School there is an Illinois Special Olympics team, called ISO.  ISO is also a club for students to join and help coach the athletes at practices and games. They have athletes that compete in basketball, track, swimming, and bowling.  The most popular sport for ISO is basketball and a large part of the school becomes involved in some way during the basketball season.  Although volunteering to help coach the ISO athletes was not known to many students in the past, the amount of volunteers in these most recent few years has unbelievably grown.  Students who help out with ISO become more than just a coach to the athletes, they become their friends and role models.  The athletes love when their peers support them in their sports whether it’s through coaching, raising money, or coming to watch their games.  ISO helps to unite students with intellectual disabilities to other students, teachers and the high school as a whole. 

Pictured to the left, is the Saint Charles East High School ISO basketball team.  I took this picture after one of their first tournaments, I wanted to capture the moment of how much fun they have and to show how close they have all grown together.  I wanted to show that these kids are more than just their disability; they are teammates, friends, and family.
       An event that brings the school together as a whole to support ISO is the “Big Game”.  This game is something the ISO basketball players talk about all season up until the actual day.  The “Big Game” is when the ISO basketball team verses the varsity basketball team.  This event brings everyone together because clubs help to raise money, teachers and staff volunteer to ref, keep score, and announce the game, and the bleachers are filled with students who came to watch.  The ISO athletes look forward to this game so much because they have been training to beat the varsity all season.  The “Big Game” really helps the students feel special and honored along with confident in their skills as a basketball player.    
      

       Pictured above is Saint Charles East High School’s  H.O.P.E club, selling face cut outs of each ISO athlete on the basketball team.  I took this picture while I was buying a face cut out before the “Big Game” started.  This picture shows how coaching is not the only way students can help out, raising money is also helpful.  H.O.P.E. club made many copies of these face cuts for family, friends, and peers to purchase at the door.  The money collected was added to the fund that the student body started.  This fund was created to save up for a recreational gym to be specially made, on school grounds, for the ISO athletes as a gift from their peers.   This is just another way that the students of Saint Charles East High School all become involved to show support for the ISO team at their school.

Pictured to the bottom right, is Saint Charles East High School’s super fan student section at the “Big Game”.  I took this picture from across the court because I was helping coach the athletes from the team bench.  This picture shows how full the stands were and how supportive the student body is.  The super fan student section is what the athletes always have the most excitement for, the bleachers become more packed than it would on just a regular game day.  They make signs, wear ISO spirit wear, and cheer on the team as they compete against varsity.  All these efforts are put in to help support and make the athletes feel special.  The kids in the student section do not just support the athletes outside of school b ut also during school.  You’ll see them walking with each other to class, sitting together in lunch, and assisting them in gym class. 

Special Olympics is a great way for people with intellectual disabilities to come together and participate in sports that they love.  Being a part of this community does not only benefit the athletes but also their families and the volunteers.  Eunice Kennedy Shriver truly started an organization with amazing opportunities for anybody with an intellectual disability.

Word Count: 1008

Bibliography

"The Power to Transform Lives." Special Olympics: Special Olympics Mission. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation for the Benefit of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://specialolympics.org/mission.aspx>.

"History of Special Olympics." Special Olympics: History of Special Olympics. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation for the Benefit of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://www.specialolympics.org/history.aspx>.

Blog 4: Primary Artifact 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pp0DHKQD8k&list=PLF6179B7FFAA95FEC&index=1

Above I have attached a video of a Special Olympics athlete named Andy Miyares.  I decided to attach this video to give an example of how beneficial it can be to participate in Special Olympics.  Andy has Down Syndrome and when he was only a couple years old he didn't have much muscle control so his mother decided to introduce him to swimming.  Just 4 weeks after he started swimming Andy was able to pull himself up to crawl.  Now Andy competes in swimming events for Special Olympics.  His experience through Special Olympics has helped him with intellectual and social skills.  This will be useful for my project because it is an example of how beneficial the experience of being a part of Special Olympics is.  I also think that if people see the positive results that can come from Special Olympics they will be more willing to donate to help with funding.

Blog 3: Primary Artifact 1

This is a picture of me, my friends, and Chris.  Chris is an athlete on the Special Olympics team at my high school.  He qualified for State this past year for long jump.  We took this picture right after he placed first and won a gold medal for State.   I chose to use this picture as my first primary artifact because the community I am doing my documentary on is Special Olympics.  A broader issue that I will be addressing is the funding that goes towards Special Olympics.  I have decided to research this topic because I worked with Special Olympic athletes all four years of my high school career.  Through out those four years I found out that my school did not provide any funding for this recreation at all.  I see this as a problem because students with intellectual disabilities that participate in Special Olympics receive many benefits with health, education, and employment.  If Special Olympics had more funding available then I believe so many more children and adults with intellectual disabilities would be more effected in a positive way.

Blog Entry 2

The community I have chosen to make a documentary about is Special Olympics.  This is a community because it is a group of people with and without disabilities that join together to participate and compete in sporting events.  All throughout my four years of high school I helped coach my schools Special Olympics team in basketball, track, swimming, and bowling.  This summer I was able to travel with some of the players to State because of how well the school year went!  I know that it is a lot of fun to assist with coaching and volunteering but I would like to learn more about the other sides’ perspective on things and what it’s like to be an athlete or head coach.  I chose this community because of how close I became to the Special Olympic Athletes at my high school and I’m hoping to discover more ways to become more involved in volunteering with Special Olympics.

Introduction

Hi, my name is McKenzie Sanchez!  I was born in Nashville, TN and when I was 9 my family moved to Draper, UT for my dads job. Then at the age of 13 my parents decided to move my family to St. Charles, IL to be closer to our extended family.  A majority of my family lives in Wisconsin and that is where my parents grew up.  A huge coincidence about my parents is that they are both the youngest of 11 kids so I have an unlimited supply of cousins.  With both of my parents being University of Wisconsin Alumni and the rest of my family being huge Wisconsin Badger fans you can probably imagine all of their reactions when I chose UK as my new home.  My expectations for WRD110 is to improve my writing and communication skills so I can feel more comfortable speaking in front of an audience.

A community I identify myself with is my sorority, Delta Gamma.  I recently joined this community a couple weeks ago.  To be a part of a sorority girls have to go through rush week which is a process where you visit each sorority and eliminate some each day.  The point of rush week is to discover which sorority is the best match for you.  I felt like Delta Gamma was the best match for me because whenever I came to the house I didn’t feel like I had to try to be someone I’m not.