I absolutely hate field day at my school. It`s always cold and I can`t do half the stuff there. Last year is was super cold when we had field day and our PE teacher still made the kids do all the events while they were soaking wet. Lucky for me my mom was there and she said I didn’t have to participate in the water part of the events. That sure made the teacher mad!
On Wednesday April 21, 2010 we went to a private school and had a field day with other kids who just happened to have disabilities too. My mom drove us and we followed Mrs Vroom to the school. Mrs. Vroom got lost so we were lost too. We were about 5 minutes late but we were still one of the first groups to arrive. When we got there some high school kids were playing pass the soccer ball and they invited us to play with them. Braxton insisted on stretching before playing so Kylee did the same. We probably played with them for about 20 minutes before we all got into our school groups.
Each school had their own school banner. Braxton held an American flag and Kylee held our school’s banner while everyone recited the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge my friend Braxton and I were asked to recite the Special Olympic oath.
Next we played t-ball and practiced throwing and catching the softball. Then we ran or rolled around the track. I was in my wheelchair so Badger pulled me all the way around the track. I was so proud of Badger! After that we played soccer. First we practiced kicking the ball into the goal. By this time my leg hurt so bad I had to take a break so I laid down on the grass and used Badger for a pillow. The next event was boccie ball. Boccie ball is like bowling outside. Braxton and I played against Kylee and her little brother. We took turns throwing the weight ball. When all the events were over we were all winners!
Last February I was incredibly lucky to be invited by the Special Olympics to attend a basketball clinic that was hosted by the Denver Nuggets. My older sister, Allison was able to go with us as our professional photographer. Allison is an awesome photographer and took some really great pictures.
As soon as we arrived at the Pepsi Center we were all given Denver Nuggets t-shirts. We went to the restrooms to put them on right away. After we got our t-shirts on we had our pictures taken with the Denver Nuggets cheerleaders. The cheerleaders absolutely loved Badger and spent a lot of time petting her.
When we got into the gym there were a lot more people there than I expected. An entire section of the stands was filled with kids and their parents. The funny thing is I thought basketball courts were always red but this one was blue; how weird! Before the team came out their team mascot came out onto the basketball court. He shot forward and backward and we had to cheer to get the ball to go into the hoop. My friend, Braxton, finally realized that the dude was purposely missing until the crowd got really loud.
Then it was finally time to line up on the court and take turns shooting the balls at the hoop. When I went up for my turn I left Badger in the stands. Badger did really good too. She stayed exactly where she was supposed to. Since I had been practicing shooting hoops from my wheelchair in the gym at school I was pretty okay and almost made a basket. The basketball hoops at the Pepsi Center are a lot bigger than the ones we have at school.
After we each had a turn at the basketball hoop the Denver Nuggets team came out onto the court. All the kids split up into four teams. The kids from my school were on the red team. First we shot baskets for 15 minutes. I made 2 shots! Then we tried to make a basket while one of the Denver Nugget players defended the hoop. On my turn I made the shot while one of the Nuggets players was pushing my wheelchair. Then we did some kind of basketball exercises like pulling on ropes and lifting weights. Next we practiced dribbling with our left and right hands.
At the end of the clinic several of the players came out and gave autographs. Three of the Denver Nuggets players signed Badger’s vest. The last thing we did was get a group picture. In the picture you can see that one of the kids is laying on Badger. She didn’t mind though because Badger is such a good sport. All in all I think everyone would agree that the Denver Nuggets Basketball Clinic was great fun!
After we got home I asked my mom if she knew why I had so much fun at the clinic that day. She said, “No Caitlin. Why was today so much fun?” I told my mom that I know I am not like all the other kids at my school. I know I am not a normal kid. I know it takes me longer to get to the same place. I told her that today was so great because today it was okay not to be normal. Today it was okay to be myself because none of the other kids were normal either. I hope that the Special Olympics is always around to give people with disabilities the opportunity to just be themselves.
Last Tuesday Badger and I went with my class to an outdoor museum. We intended to leave the school by 8:45 a.m. but unfortunately the bus broke down. At 9:10 a.m. they had found a bus that could take us on our field trip. We loaded the bus and headed to the museum. When arrived at the museum the tour guide showed us a tablet and told us that our principals family used to own the property. Next our guide showed us a fort that used to be a trading post and a room that was attached to the fort where 3-5 people would live. Our tour guide also showed us where the founders of the fort lived. We also learned what it would have been like to make tools back then. Then we toured a school that was built by the farmers that use to live at the fort. We mainly talked about the other exhibits we could come and see when the museum was finished. Finally we went to a house that had been rebuilt to look just like the original house that used to be there.
After we finished touring the museum we went to a Chinese Restaurant and ate lunch. I ordered sweet and sour chicken because that is my favorite dish to eat at a Chinese Restaurant. The food was fantastic! When we finished our lunch we got back on the bus and went back to school.
My favorite part about the whole trip was that nobody made a huge deal about Badger. In fact nobody mentioned Badger at all! All in all that was my day at the museum.
On October 14th, 2009 Badger and I had the opportunity to miss a whole day of school and go bowling with the special Olympics. We left CCA in the morning and rode a school bus all the way to Greeley. Badger was so good on the bus. When we arrived the parking lot was full of school buses and the bowling hall was full of kids having a great time.
We all got to play two games and then the pizza arrived. We all ate lunch together while a great group of volunteers handed out the ribbons. Out of the four kids from Cardinal Community Academy three student received 1st place ribbons and the other student received a 3rd place ribbon. When it was all over we got on the bus and headed back to school.
I would like to say thank you to the following people:
CCA PTO for paying for the bus
Mrs. Macho for helping to make the t-shirts
Our principal Mr. Ewing and my mom for joining our adventure
Mrs. Vroom for all the hard work she did to make this trip possible
All in all I think everyone including Badger had a wonderful time!
I absolutely hate field day at my school. It`s always cold and I can`t do half the stuff there. Last year is was super cold when we had field day and our PE teacher still made the kids do all the events while they were soaking wet. Lucky for me my mom was there and she said I didn’t have to participate in the water part of the events. That sure made the teacher mad!
On Wednesday April 21, 2010 we went to a private school and had a field day with other kids who just happened to have disabilities too. My mom drove us and we followed Mrs Vroom to the school. Mrs. Vroom got lost so we were lost too. We were about 5 minutes late but we were still one of the first groups to arrive. When we got there some high school kids were playing pass the soccer ball and they invited us to play with them. Braxton insisted on stretching before playing so Kylee did the same. We probably played with them for about 20 minutes before we all got into our school groups.
Each school had their own school banner. Braxton held an American flag and Kylee held our school’s banner while everyone recited the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge my friend Braxton and I were asked to recite the Special Olympic oath.
Next we played t-ball and practiced throwing and catching the softball. Then we ran or rolled around the track. I was in my wheelchair so Badger pulled me all the way around the track. I was so proud of Badger! After that we played soccer. First we practiced kicking the ball into the goal. By this time my leg hurt so bad I had to take a break so I laid down on the grass and used Badger for a pillow. The next event was boccie ball. Boccie ball is like bowling outside. Braxton and I played against Kylee and her little brother. We took turns throwing the weight ball. When all the events were over we were all winners!
