About 300 students from 16 elementary schools took part in Sports Day, an event for students with disabilities that has been a tradition in Jordan School District for more than 30 years. 

Students competed in a sprint, a softball throw and a standing long jump against other students of similar abilities. A ¼-mile cross country race was an option for students as well, said adaptive PE teacher Nancy Merrick, who has been coordinating the event for 29 years.

“They do their best, but we emphasize the fun and not winning,” she said. “It’s a day out where they show their parents what they can do. A lot of parents don’t get to see their kids compete like some of the gen(eral) ed(ucation) parents do, so this is nice for the students to have the opportunity as well as their parents, who can watch them compete.”

Many of the skills the student-athletes demonstrate are learned and practiced in their adaptive PE classes, which Merrick teaches. 

“We work on locomotor skills like throwing, jumping, hopping and those skills during regular class time. We try to keep the kids active all through the year, showing them different things. We teach them these skills so they can go out with all the kids at recess,” she said. “Sports Day is something that kids look forward to at the end of the year.”

New this year at Sports Day was the addition of partners, or peer students, to help the student-athletes; it follows the Special Olympics unified sports model, where in middle and high school as well as college, athletes and partners play together on unified sports teams.

Many of the schools’ students supported their peers who were competing by having a clap-out as they boarded the bus for the event as well as share their successes on school announcements or have bulletin board displays. 

Sports Day was moved from its long-time host, Herriman High, to Riverton High, because of scheduling issues and it was held on a Thursday, to allow more time for teams to enjoy lunch afterward at the high school.  λ