The Super Bowl attracts tens of millions of viewers every year, but something just as important yet more local took place the following day: the Special Olympics.
The school hosted basketball events in the main gym for the Special Olympics on Monday, with participants from different schools and different grades throughout the region.
Assisting the participants of the competition were students in the Ready, Set, Teach! Program, some members of the basketball team and members of PALS classes. Although she did not volunteer with the program, junior Brenna Leiker was at the Special Olympics to support her cousin Nick, a seventh grader from Erickson Middle School in Allen.
“Nick plays basketball every year, and his school won the championship last year,” Leiker said. “He really enjoys competing at the Special Olympics.”
The basketball events are only a small portion of the Special Olympics, said Amy Thompson, head Special Education teacher in Sherman.
“We participate every year in basketball, track and bowling,” Thompson said. “There’s also swimming and tennis, soccer and all kinds of stuff.”
Regardless of who wins or loses, all the volunteers agree that the Special Olympics are about just having fun and giving back to the community.
“We’re having a great time,” Thompson said.
