Photo Gallery: Nantucket Special Olympics

The Nantucket Public Schools held their second annual Special Olympics Thursday afternoon. Teachers and high school student volunteers helped kids K-12 enjoy a day of fun activities which included bowling, hula hooping, hitting wiffleballs off tees, parachute games, and unique relay races.

“The kids were smiling the whole day and that is our goal here,” Natalie Thompson, who oversaw the event this year, said. “The kids are getting a chance to have fun and be their own star for the day where sometimes some of these kids don’t get that chance to shine and have that attention so it is great.”

“As staff we work with these kids on a day-to-day basis but my high school kids are simply amazing. They are rock stars. The patience they show, the kindness, they aren’t trained to do this. They just jumped into this with no hesitation, basically saying ‘okay what do you need? We can do this and this.’ They were awesome and just great with all of the kids, making up games as they went along. This day doesn’t happen without my high school kids. They are phenomenal.”

Nantucket has participated in a Cape Cod Special Olympics Day in previous years that features similar games and events, but Thompson said what makes the event on the island special is the ability for everyone to be involved. Waves of kids K-12 flocked to the field to watch for periods of time throughout the morning, with dozens of Nantucket Elementary School kids making signs with messages in support of the children affiliated with the public school’s special education program.

Photography by David Creed.