Mother Nature was up to her usual work Saturday afternoon, but so were members of Theresa Street, which held its first kickball tournament despite the persistent rain on May 18 to raise funds for Dartmouth High School’s ATLAS Program.

ATLAS, or Advancing Toward Life After School, is a program that runs at the high school designed to enhance the skill sets of young adults with special needs who have recently graduated.

The program, which launched in the fall of 2023 and is taught by teacher Stephanie Church, hinges around six goals, which include independence and self advocacy, household skills, health and wellness, hygiene and self care, community involvement, managing money and vocational skills.

“It's a program that really gets our kids the life skills and the vocational skills that they could need to be successful for the rest of their life — not just while they're in school with us,” said John Breault, head coach of unified sports.

Breault said Church does a “great job” getting the students out into the community, but the main goal is to eventually get their own van.

The tournament raised $5,000 for the program. Andrew Simas, who participated with Theresa Street previously, started officially as its events manager this year and organized the tournament. 

The idea for the tournament was inspired by the kickball leagues in Newport where Simas used to live. He said the games were a great way to meet new people.

Simas said he felt it would also be a more inclusive event to hold given that a lot of the nonprofit’s other events are geared toward men. This tournament required that each team have women players on them.

In regard to the ATLAS Program, he said, “It’s near and dear to my heart. My whole life I did Special Olympics and helped out with a number of different organizations. I grew up with John Breault. He's a pillar of his community with all the work he does for unified sports, for Atlas and so on.”

Church also highlighted Breault’s work in addition to others who have built the special education programs into what they are today in Dartmouth, adding, “It’s incredible what has been established.”

She emphasized her appreciation for Theresa Street’s work as well: “It's really amazing what they've done to support our school.”