In an effort to promote social inclusion through sports training, over 100 Mission CISD Special Olympic Athletes and High School TAFE students (Texas Association of Future Educators) partnered up to participate in a Unified Bowling Day. The event took place October 30th and 31st at Incredibowl Entertainment Center.
“I truly believe that the Unified Bowling event is something that the athletes look forward to every year,” said Leonardo Esquivel, MCISD Adapted P.E. teacher/Special Olympics coach. “They enjoy the company of the TAFE students at our practices, and getting the opportunity to compete against them and test their skills brings them great joy.”
Unified Sports promotes inclusion in sports and everyday life for athletes, with and without intellectual disabilities. It allows for athletes to seek new challenges and promote their inclusion in the community.
“This is a very good experience because we get to help the students with many activities,” said Klarissa Mendoza, TAFE student. “The students get real excited. Seeing them happy is what motivates me to participate in this event.”
Mission CISD is changing the world by taking part in this initiative and incorporating it in our community. As a result, students of all ages and abilities have come together to celebrate their unique qualities and create meaningful relationships.
“Every time we come to this event the students get very happy,” said Joseph Aparicio, TAFE student. “When we cheer for them and they get super excited.”
The TAFE students participate in various types of activities and are always willing to help out at any event whether it’s Bocce, Unified Bowling, Motor Activities Challenge and others.
“We make sure to train our TAFE students while in the classroom for when they can get out in the field and interact with the students,” said Deanna Vallejo, TAFE instructor. “TAFE students get really excited by that interaction and some of them even expressed a possible future in teaching special needs students.”
Mission CISD will be participating in the Area 1- Special Olympics Bowling Tournament at Incredibowl on November 12th to 14th. TAFE high school students will be there cheering them on and everyone in the community is welcome to join team Mission and support our Special Olympians!