{"id":10898,"date":"2023-04-03T10:54:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T14:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10898"},"modified":"2023-04-03T10:55:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T14:55:50","slug":"athletics-is-a-treat-at-the-little-feet-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/athletics-is-a-treat-at-the-little-feet-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics is a treat at the Little Feet Meet!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>– David Schleck<\/em><\/p>\n

More than 150 VBCPS student athletes from multiple schools participated in the Little Feet Meet on March 28 at Tallwood High School. Paired with peer buddies from their elementary schools, the athletes were also supported by about 100 Tallwood High student volunteers at the annual event, a partnership with Special Olympics Virginia.<\/p>\n

Little Feet Meet provides an opportunity for young students with developmental disabilities to engage in track and field events with assistance from a general education peer. The goal is to promote inclusion and acceptance in school communities while encouraging physical fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited to be out here with you as we have this amazing opportunity to support our great athletes,\u201d Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence said during the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

Activities included the long jump, ball throw and running, along with lots of fun with inflatable balls and parachutes. Ribbons were awarded to each athlete immediately following the completion of their events.<\/p>\n

Athletes and their peer buddies participated side by side, along with volunteers, staff, parents and members of the Virginia Beach Police Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne more time,\u201d said Alanton Elementary student Amar Evans, smiling widely after running through an obstacle course. His mother, Vicki Persaud, thanked the organizers and volunteers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s nice that they take the time to have an event like this,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you see the creativity these students have, it\u2019s amazing. I don\u2019t call them special needs; I call them superheroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tallwood junior Riley Curtis was one of the students cheering for athletes as they entered the track and field area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me happy to see other people happy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Athletes from Alanton Elementary have been practicing since Winter Break for the Little Feet Meet, said special education teacher Jennifer Carson. Fifth grade volunteers paired up with the Little Feet athletes, playing duck-duck-goose and practicing for events like the long jump.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThey\u2019re all cheering each other on,\u201d said Carson, who works with teacher assistants Millie Cantu and Daniella Budaszewski. \u201cWe always get the best fifth graders who are so patient with them. They develop relationships and look after one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peer buddy Dennis Potamianos said being a peer buddy helps him learn and grow by being a role model.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have truly enjoyed watching these kids play and seeing huge smiles on their faces each and every day,\u201d he said. \u201cI really love these young bright kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Peer\"\"<\/a> buddy Tessa Zimmer said she likes how the program brings all kids together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt truly is amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom the kids to the teachers, everyone is so kind. I love the Little Feet Meet because it never leaves anyone out, and gives different, special kids a way to have lots of fun with their buddies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured below, students at Alanton Elementary practice with their peer buddies on March 17 for the Little Feet Meet later that month.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– David Schleck More than 150 VBCPS student athletes from multiple schools participated in the Little Feet Meet on March 28 at Tallwood High School. Paired with peer buddies from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10898"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10927,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10898\/revisions\/10927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}