Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990 TAG: 9006060381
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PATRICIA LOPEZ BADEN EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the word "go!" rang out, Wheeler, 15, took off and crossed the finish line first, collapsing in a happy tumble.
"It's my birthday today!" he said, thrusting his arms upward in a victory sign. "I win, I win!"
Wheeler, who has Down's syndrome, was one of nearly 150 children at the Roanoke County Occupational School who spent Tuesday tossing water balloons, winning sack races and throwing darts - all part of the school's annual Field Day.
"This is so great for the kids," Principal Larry Shouse said. "They just love it."
In years past Field Day consisted of outdoor water games, done one at a time, because the school didn't have enough teachers and aides to split up the activities, Shouse said.
This year, for the first time, Field Day was a gala affair that included prizes, games, a dunking machine, a free hot-dog stand and more than a dozen volunteers to help run it - all courtesy of Kroger Co. at Lakeside Plaza.
Gene Rawling, a produce manager, said Kroger employees had wanted to find a different community project - one that ordinarily didn't get much support.
"This is the kind of thing that gets overlooked," he said, surveying the crowd of screaming youngsters with satisfaction. "We just wanted to make this as special a day as we could for these kids."
Shouse said the event has never had a sponsor before.
"We've just been able to do so much more," he said. "They've really gone way over what anyone could have expected - and to actually send people out here to help, that's great."
Jeff Beamer took the day off from his Kroger management-training program to help with Field Day.
"It's been a great feeling to help these kids," he said. "Even though sometimes it's been tough, watching them struggle with things you do so easily. You don't take much for granted after a day like this."
While Beamer and Kroger co-manager Melissa Loveday helped the children toss darts at balloons and play go-fish, aides and teachers tended to the most severely retarded children - those who could do little more than lie on a mat or sit in a wheelchair.
"C'mon darlin', sit up for me," one aide said to a girl who sat bent over on a mat. Rocking and crooning to the girl, she finally started shaking a tambourine to amuse her. Hearing the tiny tin cymbals rattle together, the girl lifted her head and shrieked in delight.
"We want to make sure every child is involved in something," physical education teacher Nancy Tucker said. "That's one of the best things about Field Day. Everybody participates."
That included Shouse himself, who made himself a willing target for the children by climbing into a dunking tank rented from the Boones Mill Volunteer Fire Department for the day.
Donning a white plastic hard hat, Nike T-shirt and day-glo orange shorts, Shouse cautiously seated himself on the dunking platform and began good-naturedly egging the children on.
"Aw, Curtis, you throw like a old washwoman," he said teasingly to a teen-ager who had already missed several times.
Curtis bristled and tried again.
Finally, to the cheers of his classmates, Curtis ran up to the plate that trips the dunking platform and gave it a shove.
"Curtis!" Shouse yelled, in mock shock, as he went plunging into the water. As he came up, he tossed a hard-hat full of water at Curtis, who was still glorying in having dunked the principal.
Toward midafternoon, a happy, exhausted group of children sat down to ice-cold slices of watermelon.
"It's been a good day for these kids," vocational teacher Debbie Minucie said. "They deserve it."
by CNB