THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406160176
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY
DATELINE: 940617 LENGTH: Medium
Tell that to kids at Great Neck Middle School.
{REST} A core group of seventh-graders there, who call themselves ``Sharks,'' organized a mini-Olympics for classmates in special education classes at their school and Bayside Middle School's Sixth Grade Campus.
Sharks - on T-shirts, name tags, banners and posters - were all over the school stadium. So were winners happily blowing kisses into the stands, gracious losers and a cheering throng of fans.
The Great Neck seventh-graders are school partners to classmates in special education. The program began last year. In it, students in special education classes spend part of their day with students in regular classes.
Teachers and parents praise the ``adoption'' program. They say it has done what it set out to do - expose special education students to age-appropriate behavior and to social skills they would otherwise not have learned.
``Some of the students in the program have even formed friendships at home beyond the school. It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't structured this,'' said Maureen Mitchell, special education teacher at Great Neck Middle.
The school schedule includes special education students in lunch, field trips, social activities and home base or home room meetings with students in regular classes. Students work on projects together and learn how to mingle with each other in day-to-day situations.
The benefits go both ways.
``It's important that they learn how to interact with disabled people,'' Mitchell said. ``And our kids need to learn age-appropriate behavior.''
Janet Smith said a similar program at Bayside is working for her son, Phillip, 12, a special education student.
She has seen overall academic and social growth in her child this year.
``It helps their self-esteem,'' Smith said. ``I know it helps Phillip's.''
Donna Cameron, seventh-grade English teacher at Great Neck, teaches the Sharks.
``Our kids enjoy working with the special ed kids so much that they sometimes fight over who will work with them,'' she said, laughing.
The mini-Olympics was the first activity they've undertaken on such a grand scale, Cameron said.
The Sharks, about 100 students, did the legwork for the mini-Olympics. To sweeten the competition, they invited special education students from Bayside and then spared no drama. A pep band provided music; there were pompons and halftime entertainment.
Scott Bedzik, a competitor wearing Great Neck's No. 11, stared down toward the finish line before the first event, a shuttle run, and did a few shoulder rolls to warm up.
A flushed Terri Tankersley, 13, hugged one Shark competitor.
``They're interesting,'' she said about her friends in special education. ``And, like, you can tell them anything and they understand how you feel and they're just fun to be around.''
A group of onlookers shrieked, ``Brandi, Brandi,'' before the 50-yard-dash. Brandi Fiore, a Shark, then won the race and her friends went nuts.
``They're so much fun,'' said Lindsay Sharp, 12. Lindsay sat in the stands holding a poster that read, ``Brandi, She's our girl,'' in her good hand. Lindsay's other hand was bandaged to the elbow.
``I broke my knuckle,'' she said, laughing and waving at the field full of special athletes, ``on a skating trip with them.''
by CNB