Middle and high school students from Bulloch County Schools made their way to Statesboro High School’s football field on April 4 to have their 2025 Special Olympics.
There, you could find various schools from around the county like William James Middle School, Southeast Bulloch High School, Southeast Bulloch Middle School, Statesboro High School, Portal Middle High School and Langston Chapel Middle School.
Students competed in numerous events among their classes and worked to earn placements. The students competed in javelin throw, softball throw, tennis ball throw and running. They also had other events that were just for fun and not as a competition.
The events they offered for fun were bike riding, cornhole, and parachuting. They also had a place in the back of the football field called Olympic Village where they had hula hoops, a large connect four board, jump ropes and a bubble machine that the students played with.
Unfortunately, the times for the running events were not scored, so they were not available. However, the javelin throw, softball throw and tennis ball throw scores were available.
For javelin throw, Semaj Hunt from Portal Middle High School won first place after throwing 60.4 feet for the males. For the females, Alexis Herrera-Robinson from Statesboro High School won first place after throwing 32.8 feet.
For softball throw, Jordan Coleman from Langston Chapel Middle School won first place after throwing for 31 feet. Aaliyah Hodges from Statesboro High School won first place after throwing for 54 feet.
For tennis ball throw, Jordan Coleman won again for the males after throwing for 90 feet. For the females, Aubree White from Southeast Bulloch Middle School won after throwing 54 feet.
After the students finished their events, the schools organized a senior walk for the students that just wrapped up their final Special Olympics. The students’ names were read along with facts of their school career and finished with what they plan to do after high school.
The students that walked were Salinda Brinson, Isabela Cortes, Elijah Chappel, Rylee Dosier, Emily Hayes, Curtavious Hobbs, Gabrielle Hunter, Sennie Lockett, Lauren Riner, Mikale Smith, Shayne Williams and Chance Young.
A student with a clear path for the future was senior Mikale Smith from Statesboro High School. He said that his plan was to attend Ogeechee Technical College for construction and is excited to work toward getting his own living space.
