Day to Shine: NPHS hosts 39th Special Olympics

Ammah Mengel-O’Connell has lived with his adopted family for only a few months, but the 17-year-old junior at North Penn High School has already become well adapted to the competitive spirit of his new homeland.

Mengel-O’Connell, a native of Liberia, finished first place in the 200-meter run Wednesday in the Special Olympics; it’s the 39^th consecutive year that North Penn has hosted the event at Crawford Stadium.

Athletes are paired up with “buddies,” student volunteers who accompany the Olympians throughout the tournament.

In Mengel-O’Connell’s case, his buddies were Marjorie Blum and David Heggan, both seniors at North Penn.

Blum said she volunteered “because I wanted to help out.”

“I played softball so I never had the opportunity before. It’s very encouraging and uplifting,” she said.

Heggan first volunteered his freshman year. He, too, said he simply wanted to “help out.”

“It’s a great experience, a really fun day,” he said.

Linda Law, a secretary at the high school and advisor to the high school Key Club, lit the ceremonial torch at the start of the games, something she’s done every year for about 20 years. On Wednesday, her 10-year-old grandson, Jason Schatz, finished third in the 50-meter run in his age group.

“He had a ball; all the kids do,” she said.

Near the concession stand, Kathie Kerper, a special education teacher at North Penn, was talking to two teachers from Souderton: Lynne Stauffer and Cindy Appelbaum. The women discussed the logistics of organizing the event.

Kerper should know; she’s been planning North Penn’s Special Olympics since 1978.

“I always liked the idea of people with disabilities having the opportunity to show they can do anything,” she said.

“Anything,” she added, such as track, skiing, baseball, jumping—all of which were evident Wednesday, minus the skiing. It was a little warm for making snow.

Kerper then explained why the closing ceremonies were going to be “bittersweet”—this is the last year North Penn is hosting the Special Olympics, at least for a while.

Souderton Area High School will be hosting the next two years, she said. After that, “no one’s sure.”

Kerper shared her more than 30 years experience with Stauffer and Appelbaum, telling them to have at least five or six dates in mind when scheduling the event.

“Today was the sixth date. The other five were rained out or cancelled,” Kerper said.

To commemorate the switch, during the closing ceremony, Bob Kempf, a junior at North Penn, passed a torch to a Souderton student, sophomore Tom Nowak. 

Earlier, Stauffer, a life skills teacher at Souderton, said, “We may put our own stamp on it,” but, other than the venue, the Special Olympics will stay the same.

And that’s good, because, after all, the games are about the athletes, not the arena in which they’re played.

Take Eliza, Janelle and Kaia, all students and athletes at Brooke Elementary School in Royersford. All three earned ribbons in their respective events—as did all the athletes—but it was 9-year-old Janelle who was going home with two blue ribbons.

She was all smiles when showing the ribbons to her teacher Jo’Ann Messer.

“They love to come here,” said Messer, a teacher of 34 years. “They learn to cheer each other on, they learn to socialize. This is really their day to shine.”