Two hundred and fifty athletes—from Darthmouth, Westport, New Bedford, Fall River, and Somerset schools—gathered at Dartmouth High School on May 20 for the Special Olympics School Day Games. They had spent the morning jumping low hurdles and throwing javelins, following with the 100-meter dash in the afternoon.

“This is their day in the limelight,” said Dartmouth special education teacher and games organizer John Breault. “When you see every kid has a smile on their face, everything becomes rewarding and worthwhile,” he said.

The eleventh annual school day games took six months to plan, said Donna St. Onge, community development manager for Special Olympics Massachusetts. "We tell [the schools] the date and what sports we'll have so they can start practicing with their students," said St. Onge.

Eighty-five student volunteers, clad in lime-green shirts, helped run the events, including Dartmouth High senior Rachel Gin. “I’m in learning partnerships and we help with special needs kids,” she said. “I helped out with javelin. It was fun.”

More students cheered on their special-needs peers as part of Project Unify. “We’re pushing the unified movement, which is kids with or without disabilities playing on the same team,” said adaptive physical education teacher Mike Cappello.

The program is eye-opening, said senior Amy Koczera. “It helps you gain a lot of perspective. We can all play sports together and we’re here to have fun.”

Junior Meagan Sebastiao agreed. “It makes us want to push harder and try harder because they learn to support us as we’re supporting them.” She said her experience with the program has encouraged her to switch her career path from nursing to special education.

The two cheered on Special Olympians such as Noel Martins, who took second place against two other competitors in the 100-meter dash. Martins said training with the unified athletes helped him do so well. “Training, well, it was simple. It was tough as well,” he said. “But I always had faith in myself. I guess that’s how I ended up in second place.”

Travis Nevins, who took third in the race against Martins, said although he used the ellipticals at the Dartmouth YMCA to train for the sprint, there was no way he could do it again. “Not on an empty stomach,” he said.

Luckily, Nelson Hockert-Lotz—owner of a few Domino's Pizza franchises in New Bedford—had donated lunch. Breault credited many local companies—including Home Depot, Colonial Wholesale Beverage, and Katman Sports—with making the day games possible.

The outside activities were followed by a dance party in the school’s gymnasium. Dartmouth dj Jordan Paiva got the kids going with line dancing and pop music.

“The energy is just amazing,” said Paiva. “We all come together and, just the happiness these kids bring everybody... It should be like this everyday. Just happiness,” he said.

Special Olympian Ben Szteliga stole the show on the dance floor. Although he took first place in the 100-meter dash, he said being with friends was his favorite part of the day. As for his whip and nae nae moves, “I just do it from heart,” he said.