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>.