Hundreds of GECDSB students compete in Special Olympics
Elementary students competed on Thursday, secondary students compete Friday
Nearly 600 elementary students from the Greater Essex County District School Board competed in this year's Special Olympics.
The annual event was held at Sandwich Secondary School with events like the 100-metre race, ball throw and standing long jump.
"I got so excited, like I wanted to go so I could get a first place and my dad could get proud," said Andrew Nguyen.
Mohamed Ayoub competes every year and said the event is "lots of fun."
"It just gets better and more fun every time I try."
A competitive bit of fun
That's exactly the atmosphere organizers are trying to create.
"The staff and the students are having equally as much fun as everybody else out here," said Todd Awender, chair of the Special Olympics committee.
"The smiles on their faces are great to see."
Stephen Silvaggio said it's a great event to get kids together to build relationships.
"It allows them to be celebrated when maybe they're not always," said Stephen Silvaggio who sits on the Special Olympics Committee.
"It allows them to compete and come out and have a fun day."
"To some people it's about the competition but to me it's all about the fun of making friends," said Memphis Miller.
Rony Vo said the event has a balance of both.
"It's all about fun because you can play with your friends and exercise your body," said Vo.