BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – Alternate standard students from 26 Raleigh County schools enjoyed the No Limits Invitational ‘Different, Not Less.’
It was catered to their abilities on the Woodrow Wilson High School football field.
“It’s important for kids to have fun and like, explore, said Beckley Stratton Middle School seventh-grader Mikeah Dow. “I get to see other people here having fun, people I know, people I miss and remember. It’s great for kids to have a great life.”
These kids deserve the right to be out there and have a field day like everybody else.
“It’s also good for them to get together and see other students just like them,”
Raleigh County Office of Special Programs Behavior Specialist Taffy Robertson said. “They’re having fun, and we don’t require anything of them today. It’s voluntary. This is just a day about celebration and being with friends.”
Students at the invitational don’t have opportunities to participate in traditional sports, so it’s important for them to have and build peer relationships.
“With their faculty and friends amongst the other schools,” said Raleigh County Special Education Programs Director Allen Sexton. “It normalizes life in a way that sometimes they aren’t able to experience on a regular basis.”
“To play frisbee, run sprints, and shoot a basketball. Woodrow is fun,” 11th-grader Cameron Green said.
The No Limits Invitational offers so much to do and see.
“I get to meet new people. It’s fun out here. I really like it out here,” said ninth-grader Cheyenne Stapleton. “My favorite part would probably be with my classmates and teachers.”
According to Robertson, Woodrow graciously agreed indefinitely to host this event, and the student body contributed.
“I love this so very much,” the behavior specialist said. “I’ve been in education for well over 20 years, and it just warms my heart to be able to get us all together and celebrate the uniqueness that is this department.”
