![\"Little](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Little-Feet-Meet-preview-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHer laugh is\u2026she really laughs at anything and her personality is like the best I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Duncan. \u201cHer smile is always the best. She\u2019s just like a sweetheart, the most kind girl I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n
The feeling must be mutual because Belen always greets Duncan with a hug. Always.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always ask her, \u2018Who\u2019s you best friend?\u2019\u201d said Duncan, \u201cand she points and says, \u2018You!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The new best friends are among almost 300 students from 14 elementary schools spending time together to train for the school division\u2019s second annual Little Feet Meet scheduled for March 27. An additional 118 students from Tallwood High, the host school, also will be involved as event volunteers.<\/p>\n Held in partnership with Special Olympics Virginia, the event provides an opportunity for young students with developmental disabilities to participate in developmentally-appropriate races, throwing events and jumping events with assistance from a general education peer. The goal is to further promote inclusion and acceptance in school communities while encouraging physical fitness.<\/p>\n Preparing student athletes in schools is done under the supervision of school staff and adaptive physical education teachers, who also attend the Little Feet Meet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope to make sure the peer buddy and the athlete become familiar and comfortable with each other, especially for some of the students who are nonverbal,\u201d said Meghan Mathews, an intellectual disability teacher at Glenwood. \u201cThat way the peer buddy understands it\u2019s OK if you don\u2019t get any feedback from them or if they\u2019re not responding to you. It\u2019s also so the students, both the athlete and the peer buddy, are aware of what they will be asked to do out there. Where do you need to throw the ball? How are we going to run? What does the jumping activity look like?\u201d<\/p>\n Mathews, who attended the meet last year with students, said all involved had \u201ca great time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey liked the idea of participating in something and being the winners and being celebrated as the champions. For someone to focus purely on them and the ribbons were very motivating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Across the city at Alanton Elementary, fifth-grader Destiny Cochran was motivating Cambria Cummings in her practice for the ball toss event.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n