1st Mini Special Olympics in St. Scholastica's College

Here is a write-up sent in by my Ms. Hazel Tan, a former colleague who now teaches/trains future special needs education teachers in St. Scholastica's College, Special Education program.

SSC Ed Soc holds its 1^st Mini Special Olympics

Hazel Musngi-Tan

It was Tuesday morning.  The sun was bright --not too hot.  The wind was blowing, the air was cool –truly a perfect day for an Olympics.  But this was not just any Olympics.  This was Education Society’s first Mini Special Olympics for children with special needs.  Under the guidance of their moderator and professors, with the organizational skills and commitment of our Education Society officers, and the enthusiastic participation of all our future teachers, this was truly a fun-filled educational experience for all.  Participated in by around 46 students with exceptionalities, along with their teachers, from three different special schools in Makati and Paranaque, this event truly rocked St. Scholastica’s field that morning.  Despite the magnitude 4 earthquake that was said to rock Manila earlier that day, it felt more like a magnitude 7 as the SSC field wobbled and trembled as little students, big students, teachers and parents all thundered to the field as they jumped, ran, danced and played ball all in the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship. 

Children with special needs from ages 5 to 25 along with their “ates” from the Education Department gathered in front of the stage at around 8:30 in the morning for some pre-game warm ups and exercises led by the 4^th year students.  The oath of sportsmanship was led by Jeko Soquiat, a young boy with autism, from Pio Makati Sped Center.  After which, the students were divided into groups and sent off to the game stations.  They participated in the long jump, ball catching, obstacle course, three legged-race, doughnut eating contest, and many others. 

After playing and sweating it out on the field, everyone was entertained by a song number from Erica See, a freshman ECE major.  Some talented students from the different schools also came up on stage to sing or dance with the music. Everybody’s energy was still up that nobody seemed to feel hungry even as the food and drinks were served.  During all these, face painting was also ongoing as some of our artistically talented Educ students made canvasses out of our little visitors’ arms and faces.

Everybody ended the morning with lots of hugs, kisses, goodbyes and promises of seeing each other again.  Thank you to everybody who took part and made this event a very fun learning experience for all.

Other activities during the Ed Soc week include:

• Talk of Mr. Isagani Cruz on the Enhanced K+12 Education Curriculum
• Talk of Mrs. Dang Kao on the Journey of a mother of a child with Autism
• Awareness Exhibit which was prepared by the First year students
• Talk of Kcat Yarza, a young lady affected by Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2)
• Science Quiz Bee featuring Early Childhood Science lessons
• Story Telling and Puppet Show for street children from Child Hope of Asia

Booths were also set up near the SSC field promoting various products which included:

• Handcrafted items made by persons with disabilities (PWD) from Tahanang Walang Hagdanan
• Kcat Yarza’s designed shirts, mugs, baller tags and other items which serve as fundraising for her medical treatments
• Autism Society of the Philippines’ products which includes the Angel’s Walk for Autism tshirts
• The Teacher Store, an all-in-one store of teaching aids and materials made for a teacher’s needs
• Grasshopper Preschool Kits, for parents and teachers of preschoolers

Congratulations to the Education Society of St. Scholastica's College!