{"id":13479,"date":"2025-04-04T09:35:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=13479"},"modified":"2025-04-04T09:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:40:11","slug":"fit-unified-high-school-students-compete-in-track-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/fit-unified-high-school-students-compete-in-track-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Fit & Unified: High school students compete in track competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Several high schools participated in the Unified Track Meet on March 31, bringing together athletes of all abilities to compete in an inclusive and supportive environment.<\/p>\n

More than 50 students from Bayside, Ocean Lakes and Tallwood high schools participated.<\/p>\n

In partnership with Special Olympics, students with disabilities participated with their general education peers in events that include the 100-meter dash, softball throw, long jump and the 4 by 100 meter relay. The Army National Guard provided an activity as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Student Brinda Hankienson high-fives after her long jump.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The afternoon started with warm-up stretches and cheers, which got Bayside student Brinda Hankienson in the spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t hear you!\u201d she said, encouraging more applause from the participants. The athletes then broke off into different competitions, while Mother Nature offered a mix of sunny warmth and refreshing sprinkles.<\/p>\n

When Brenda finished the long jump, she high-fived another student and exclaimed, \u201cI feel good!\u201d<\/p>\n

Student organizations such as the Key Club and the Mighty Marlins were full participants. And Bayside\u2019s track teams took part in the relay with the other competitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to get the adapted learning students involved in sports,\u201d said Bayside senior Peyton May-Parker, one of the student volunteers.<\/p>\n

Health and physical education teacher Maurika Dutton coordinated the event, which was started several years ago by a former staff member Jennifer Vedder.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Health and physical education teacher Maurika Dutton and former Bayside staff member Jennifer Vedder congratulate student Brinda Hankienson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThese students need to compete,\u201d said Vedder, who is now a health and physical education specialist with the Virginia Department of Education. \u201cThese are kids who don\u2019t always get to be involved in activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the track meet, parents cheered from the sidelines and bleachers. Olivia Irvin proudly watched her son, Kenneth Copeland Jr., compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did the long jump and he did the softball throw,\u201d Irvin said with a big smile. \u201cThis is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayside principal Troy Walton was glad to see the students, staff, parents and community partners come out and support the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event aligns with our commitment to inclusivity and provides an opportunity for our students to engage in meaningful competition while fostering teamwork and sportsmanship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Olivia Irvin and her son, Kenneth Copeland Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

Several high schools participated in the Unified Track Meet on March 31, bringing together athletes of all abilities to compete in an inclusive and supportive environment. More than 50 students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13483,"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-13479","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\/13479","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=13479"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13499,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479\/revisions\/13499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}