On May 29th, Garnet Valley held its 3rd Annual Special Ed Invitational, an all day event where kids from different school districts come to Garnet Valley and participate in many fun and exciting activities to support an important day. The Invitational conveys a few messages Garnet Valley strives to teach; Community, Respect, and that every person has value, no matter what age or condition.
For this invitational, there were 8 schools districts, including Garnet Valley, that came out and participated. Those schools included Chichester, Springfield, Upper Darby, Interboro, Penncrest, Ridley and Strath Haven. After everyone promptly arrived at the event, we began our Parade of Athletes; the kids in each school district paraded their way around the middle school track to show their great amount of enthusiasm on a day that was sure to be fun for all.
The Special Education departments from the school eight districts were absolutely outstanding with all the activities they participated in, including the 25 meter dash, 50 meter dash, 4×25 meter relay, softball toss, softball crate, softball dribble, and soccer shoot. As an ambassador for Chichester, I saw a lot of enthusiasm not only from the local kids from Chichester but from every school district that attended the invitational.
I ran around making sure everything is organized, and it was terrific how smoothly things went as there weren’t any problems or conflicts between school districts or the events as they took place. Although the weather began to warm up very quickly throughout the day, everyone managed to have a great time. After a couple events were completed, we had breaks so that the kids wouldn’t get too tired and had a chance to cool off a bit. One of the most fun parts of the day was the dance break where the kids start dancing to “Uptown Funk” and “The Cha Cha Slide”. The Philly Phanatic was our special surprise guest and let me tell you how excited the kids were to get pictures with him!
When the invitational ended, MVP awards were awarded to those who really were involved in the events and gave their ultimate best. However, I could tell every kid received reward for their hard work just by seeing their smiling faces.I am very glad that I participated in this event and I am looking forward to the 4th Annual Invitational next year. We hope even more schools from the area will participate.
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