Megan Barton

Cheering on her buddy, senior Julia DeFrank watches as her athlete shoots the basket. “She enjoyed the day, and that was awesome because they said last year she was nervous to even go into the gym,” DeFrank said.

Five hundred volunteers. Two hundred athletes. And countless hours all poured into one memorable event on Feb. 13: Special Olympics 2017.

“Every year, the number of participants in Special Olympics grows, and this year, we have the largest amount [ever],” Science Academic Support teacher Susan Anderson said. “The athletes have a choice to decide what they are interested in, so I think that more athletes are participating because they want to learn how to play different sports, like basketball.”

With the amount of people involved, preparations beginning in November. Anderson takes care of the interactions with the participating schools; orders lunches, confirms the DJ and assigns participants jobs.

“Anderson is the person who cares about this event the most,” junior Nicole Wang said. “She really works endlessly to ensure that everyone is happy and that this event is successful. She has really taught me to put yourself second and put others put to help with everyone’s needs.”

Anderson gets help from a leadership team, which includes herself, theatre teacher Amie Gossett, history teacher Annie Wayland and Special School District teacher Michael Skordos, who all have different responsibilities. Wayland and the Leadership classes create all of the signage for the day, Skordos and other SSD teachers and support staff organize the activities in Victory Village and Drama teacher Amie Gossett works on scheduling and the organization of lunch.

“They are critical in running Special Olympics, so much that I would not have been able to do this by myself,” Anderson said.

Students volunteers help the athletes, and student coordinators prepare for the event, including Wang. Wang is the head student coordinator who plans the event and works to prevent errors throughout the event.

“Everyone is nervous because we have so many volunteers so we have to accommodate to everyone’s needs,” Wang said, “but when the day comes, our hard work plays out and it’s great to see everyone so happy that they’re there with the kids.”

Although it takes the efforts of the Longhorn community for the event to happen, Anderson says it’s all worth it when the day of Special Olympics arrives.

“Watching the volunteers interact with athletes and seeing the joy in the athletes’ faces is just a  great sight to see,” Anderson said.

Gossett agrees, believing that it speaks a lot about one’s character.

“I believe that when you are a kind, giving and compassionate person, you are truly living,” Gossett said, “and this is a chance to be that kind of person in a great event.”