One of the highlights of being in Chamblee High School’s National Honors Society (NHS) is having the opportunity to volunteer at the DeKalb Elementary Special Olympics. Chamblee’s NHS has had a long-time relationship with the organization, with NHS being sponsored by Dr. Holly Ingram.

“Chamblee has been doing Special Olympics for 30 years […] it definitely long precedes me. I believe Ms. Barnes was the sponsor [previously, but] I have only done it for six or seven years,” said Ingram.

The DeKalb Special Olympics is largely coordinated by Chamblee High School teacher Ms. Kimberly Skalku.

“I first got involved 24 years ago when I was a recreation therapy student. It was around the time when the Paralympics were here in Atlanta, and I was doing an internship [with] another lady who had the same [role] in the [Special Olympics as I do now]. She was in the county for over 30 years, and we worked together for about 15, so from being a student, a love of people who have disabilities, and athletics, [this opportunity was] just a great combination [for me],” said Skalku.

The Special Olympics, like other athletic events, has multiple levels of competition.

“You’ve got a local [competition], your school stuff. Then you have Region, and our region is DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, and Newton counties. Then, we move to State. We have State Games three times a year– we do fall, winter, and spring sports,” said Skalku.

The Special Olympics is something that many NHS members look forward to each year. Participants received a brief training of their roles they would be expected to perform prior to the event.

“[I volunteered] because I like working with kids. We haven’t had a field day in a few years, so I thought that it’d be fun to [go to] an event like [the Special Olympics],” said Peirong Gao (‘24).

Others were drawn to this opportunity based on previous experiences.

“I thought that it sounded fun and I do a lot of volunteering outside of school with kids with disabilities, so it’s something that I’m familiar with doing that I’ve always found really fun and rewarding, so I thought that it would be something that I would enjoy,” said Ingrid Plemper (‘24).

This year’s event was held at Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, Georgia with NHS assisting with the elementary school events on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

“I absolutely loved it. It was a beautiful day outside, just going and being able to be outside with all these kids while helping everybody. I saw my old elementary school and teachers that I recognized, [and I liked] getting to help out the community and spend time with my friends,” said Sully Watts (‘23).

While Chamblee NHS went on competition day for elementary school athletes, this hasn’t always been the case in the past.

“Usually, we work with the high school students and we go when our Chamblee students go, so we travel the same day as our participants from Chamblee, but sometimes there are schedule conflicts. This year, I had the [NHS] induction meeting the next day when our students were participating, so we had to choose a different day,” said Ingram.

This off-campus experience allowed volunteers to have time to socialize outside of the classroom, an aspect many appreciated.

“I really liked like cheering on all the kids who were running, and I also got to talk to other volunteers and connect,” said Gao.

Volunteers were split into two main categories of events: softball throw and track events.

“I was helping to run track, so we were preventing the kids from running past the finish line, just saying [things] like, ‘hey, give me a high five,’ ‘go ahead and stop here,’ ‘tell the scorekeeper your time,’ that kind of stuff,” said Plemper.

The Special Olympics encompasses many more events than the two NHS was assisting with, however.

“Here at Chamblee, I want to say [for] the past six years and before COVID, we have had 12 events other than track and field during the school year. Chamblee is one of the schools that host volleyball. Track and field we’ve been doing for over 30 years, but it’s grown so much [to] a three day event. Last year it was seven days, [but] this year we [were] able to condense it to four. We had over 1,500 athletes participating over the four day period,” said Skalku.

Volunteer training was reviewed the morning of the event, with students then being assigned specific roles within their event category.

“We helped to run the races- I think it was a 50-meter, a 100-meter, and then a race/walk. We helped line up the kids and then we timed them as they ran towards the finish line,” said Watts.

Volunteers weren’t only limited to Chamblee NHS, with other schools’ service clubs and JROTC groups present.

“I had about five or six volunteer groups each day that vary, [including] McNair High School’s ROTC, Stone Mountain High School, Columbia High School, Lakeside High School, DECA, [and] DATE Academy. We try to get as much of the county involved as we can,” said Skalku.

Interacting with the elementary schoolers participating in the events was a memorable part of the day for many of the volunteers.

“My favorite part was getting to interact with all [the] kids because they really were so bright and happy the whole time, and it made me feel really happy to do [help them],” said Plemper.

The enthusiasm of the kids was evident, and helped to create an enjoyable experience for the volunteers.

“I loved how the kids, once they reached the finish line, didn’t want to stop running because they’re having so much fun. We’d have to go and catch them and get them to stop,” said Watts.

An added bonus of the experience, outside of helping the community and missing school, was the lunch provided for volunteers.

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Holly Ingram

“I didn’t know that we would get an entire Chick-fil-A meal with chips and a cookie, so it was a nice surprise that [we got] a ginormous chocolate chip cookie,” said Gao.

The experience was highly recommended to others by participants, and a positive overall experience.

“I thought it was really well-organized and super fun- it was great to see the kids having so much fun and really enjoying it, and I really felt like I did something helpful and beneficial for them,” said Plemper. “I would definitely recommend it to others. It’s super fun, it’s not hard, [and] it doesn’t require any special training or skills!”