Special Olympics School Day Games Returned to Dartmouth
Dartmouth High School has hosted a regional Special Olympics School Day Games event each May for more than 13 years. This event typically brings together Special Olympians from the surrounding towns to compete in track and field events. Unfortunately, COVID-19 disrupted the event in 2020.
John Breault is the Lead Teacher of Special Ed and Michael Cappello is the Adaptive Physical Education Teacher at Dartmouth. They were both excited to bring the games back to Dartmouth on Friday, May 21, even if only athletes from Dartmouth could participate while the pandemic is still present.
“Though it was scaled down and just included Dartmouth Special Olympians, it was so great to provide an opportunity to these competitors,” said Breault.
This year's event featured a field day-style rotation of games that concluded with medals presented by the Dartmouth Police Department and State Police from the Dartmouth Barracks and pizza from Domino's.
A special Opening Ceremony started the morning by honoring Dartmouth Special Olympian Deidra Tavares who passed away in January of this year. All participants gathered together to spell out the word DEIDRA on the field, followed by the singing of the national anthem and some words about the games from Michael Cappello.
Jeremiah Loveridge was unstoppable last Friday as he played through each game offered in the circuit. When asked what his favorite obstacle was, there was no contest; running was the best. Loveridge commented on the perfect weather, saying he loved how sunny it was that day.
Music was blasting to keep everyone’s energy high that morning. Volunteers worked with the Special Olympians to complete each obstacle to the best of their ability and there were nothing but smiles under those masks on the field.