PORTLAND, Ore. — In this week's Let's Get Out There, we're highlighting the students of Portland Public Schools at their adapted field day at Jefferson High School in north Portland.
Wednesday was a super day to be at Jefferson. Hundreds of kids running, jumping and rolling with no shortage of smiles and laughter.
“Oh my gosh, it's one of my favorite days of the whole year,” said adapted P.E. teacher Alana Burny.
Burny is one of eight adapted P.E. teachers for Portland Public Schools. She helped organize the adapted field day for elementary students on the football field with a superhero theme. Students, staff and parents dressed in costumes to celebrate the day and the kids it was planned for.
“The kids are so happy and they get to get out…today's beautiful, so enjoying the beautiful day, and I feel like it's just a positive experience for everybody,” said Adam Hamler, another organizer and PPS adapted P.E. teacher.
Stations were set up with different games and activities, all with a superhero theme. Each one with modifications so everyone had a chance to play. The “Hulk Smash” let kids roll a bowling ball into a tower of giant cups, knocking them over. The “Black Panther Parachute” and “Iron Man Baggo” were among some of the other games.
“From my cerebral palsy, to intellectual disabilities, to traumatic brain injuries, deaf and hard of hearing, visual impairments,” said Hamler describing just some of the disabilities the kids overcome every day to succeed.
This field day was a chance to give them a dedicated day to focus on the students and what they can do — not what they can’t.
“Every school has their own field day for the whole school,” Hamler said. “We thought it'd be super important to celebrate these students, on one day at one place and bring everybody together and just make a big celebration of their abilities.”
“We just want to celebrate our students, and they deserve a focus day on them,” said Burny. “And we also have all of our equipment at Jefferson High School, so it's really hard to have this equipment somewhere else. And that way we can just bring everybody together....celebrate together.”
The K-5 adapted field day was held on Wednesday, May 10, with the middle and high schoolers getting their day on Thursday, May 11.
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Let's Get Out there airs once a week on KGW's 4 p.m. newscast and The Good Stuff, which airs Monday-Thursday at 7 p.m. We're including viewer photos for this series. You can text your photos to 503-226-5088 or post them on the KGW Facebook page.