Kids helping kids making Special Olympics Young Athletes Program run with pride
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some young superheroes gathered together Monday on the South Side.
Their common bond? A love of sports.
The Special Olympics Young Athletes Program brought together kids of all ages and skill levels. CBS 2's Andrew Ramos shows us the impact the games are having on the community.
Superheroes, some donning capes, and others a smile, converged on De La Salle Institute on the South Side for a day of unity and sport.
Focused on what they can do, rather than on what they can't
It's the youngest crop of students part of the Special Olympics Illinois' Young Athletes program where children between 2 and 7... some with intellectual disabilities... play side by side - an opportunity to normalize being different
"Who doesn't love, you know, to kick a ball and strike a ball? And they aren't judging each other," said Melissa Garritano, Managing Director of Special Olympics Illinois.
Six hundred students from three Chicago public schools hit the field at De La Salle, competing in multiple levels of sports that challenged the athletes physically, cognitively, and socially.
The initiative, which falls under the unified sports program - aims to raise awareness of the Special Olympics and its long-term goal of tolerance
"You know, that care and concern and bringing them in and bringing them to be part of that mainstream, it's happening and it's being led by the kids," said De La Salle High School Principal Tom Schergen.
The Unified Program, although growing, is only being offered in less than 10% of Chicago schools. It's a number that organizers hope to increase in the coming years
"They were little kids, saying stuff like 'oh nobody has ever been nice to me like this before' and it just made me feel like a really good person," said student volunteer Maura Babuskow.
In its first year aligning with the Unified Sports Program, administrators at De La Salle Institute now looking to make it a longterm tradition.