We’ve triumphed the Mission Valley soccer competition multiple times and today we’re getting a student’s thoughts! Mayron was one of the key general education student masterminds behind the planning of the entire day. From the handmade torches to lots of posters to the best Opening Ceremonies ever, Mayron and her leadership classmates put on an amazing show!
How did you first get involved with the Schools Partnership Program?
Bria – who helps oversee the program in Mission Valley – came to our school a few months back and presented the idea. Everyone was really excited about doing it. I, of course, wanted to help out because I’ve been a soccer coach before. Working with students is really exciting. We’ve played soccer with these [special education students before at American. They get so excited and it’s so fun.
What kind of work did you and the leadership group do leading up to the day?
It was a lot of planning and getting organized. Assigning jobs, making posters and just visualizing how the day would go and planning accordingly. We planned our opening ceremonies. We got the idea to have the cheerleaders walk them in, similar to the Olympics. Having their posters to represent their flags in our gym as well as have [the hand-made] torches around at the field. We got the soccer girls involved, and they’re leading the skills stations and refereeing the games. We have some of our leadership students and our other sport activities out here, too.
What was your favorite part of planning?
I liked how we could envision how it would turn out and adding new things and new ideas that you think would get students excited.
Did it turn out like it thought you would?
Yes, it did! There were more people who came to watch the students, which makes it even better to have some of their families here. I didn’t expect all that, and that’s really nice.
What was your favorite part of the day?
The Opening Ceremonies – people got really excited. Even seeing the student-athletes now scoring goals, everyone gets so excited, and the cheerleaders, too!