On Friday, February 21, special education children from the high schools of the Fremont Unified School District went to Newark Memorial High School to participate in the Special Ed Olympics. Both disabled and non-disabled students participated in the competitions in a demonstration of acceptance and respect. Prior to the event, the special ed students received training to compete in three sports. They practiced soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track and field in the spring. At this event, the main sport was basketball, with mini-games during breaks. Several students and members of the Husky Buddies club, which is dedicated to bridging the gap between the general student body and special education students, accompanied the special ed students to the event.
Students from Washington left at 9:00 am to go to Newark. All schools filed into the gym as their school name was announced. The choir sang the national anthem, and one of the students ran the torch across the gym. Then, the schools were split into more groups to play against each other in basketball. Our team played against Logan’s team and lost, won against Kennedy, and lost to Irvington. In between the games, the students went to the break room and played bowling and a mini version of basketball. One of the students who helped play with the special ed students was Vihaan Sharma. “Us being the volunteers, we tried our best to help them play,” he said. “It was a fun experience and we won one of the games.” Eventually, the fun was over. The event ended and our students were sent back to Washington and arrived before 6th period started.
The event left one student, Vignesh Manikandan, inspired by what he saw. “It was inspiring seeing everyone work together and achieve a goal,” he said. “Usually special ed kids and other kids go to separate classes, but this time, we worked together to create an amazingly fun event and both sides had fun. It shows how if we work with the special ed kids more, we can create even more memories for Washington High School.”
It is currently Amal Afsal’s senior year at Washington High School. He was born and raised in Fremont, California. For his third and final year at the Hatchet, he will be the news editor. Amal enjoys writing about a variety of topics at the Hatchet, but prefers News and Opinions articles. In his free time, Amal enjoys playing video games while also occasionally watching television and browsing Reddit. He enjoys playing Badminton at WHS’s open gym and is employed by the restaurant, iniBurger. Amal wants to go to community college and transfer to a university within a couple of years.