When Waubonsie Valley High School’s football team took on Metea Valley High School in Aurora, there were plenty of reasons to cheer about what was happening off the field.
The Waubonsie Valley dance team, joined by nearly a dozen students with special needs, celebrated the inaugural Peer Spirit Day by performing on the sidelines and on the track throughout the game on Oct. 18.
The idea for Peer Spirit Day came from Waubonsie Valley junior Katelyn Poch, co-captain of the dance team.
“This event came to me after seeing my older brother Benjamin (a 2016 Waubonsie graduate) who was so active with Special Olympics, Best Buddies and adaptive physical education,” Poch, 16, said. “I wanted to create something that involves the entire student body with a ‘Friday Night Lights’ experience.”
Poch approached Waubonsie dance team coach Megan Voitik with the idea for Peer Spirit Day last year. Together, they gained support from the administration, special education teachers and football coach Paul Murphy, who provided jerseys for the participants to wear during the event.
Voitik said she hopes students realize “what it means to include others in something that can become normal or routine for those who get to experience it all the time. It is so important to have gratitude in life and be thankful for the opportunities that you have. If you can share joy with others, joy will follow you.”
Voitik said dance brings joy to so many and the goal was to share that joy with more students than just the dance team.
“Our school has many mottos, ‘Be WV’ and ‘You belong,'” Voitik said. “Every student at this school matters.”
Poch shared the sentiment.
“I hope everyone involved had a wonderful experience on the field (and created) memories that will last a lifetime,” Poch said.
“It was awesome,” 17-year-old Trevor Harvey, who participated in the event, said. “It felt great to be on the track with the dance team. The dancing was fun.”
His dad, Scott Harvey, agreed.
“With Trevor dancing on the track that night he was able to be involved with the event in a way that had never happened before,” he said. “He had an absolute blast and it will be an occasion he will never forget.”
Harvey said that he and his wife, Kris, feel so fortunate to be at Waubonsie Valley High School and in School District 204.
“The teams at Georgetown Elementary, Fischer Middle School and now Waubonsie have been phenomenal,” he said. “The kids with special needs at Waubonsie are truly the superstars in the school, especially those who participate with Special Olympics.”
Poch hopes to make Peer Spirit Day an annual event.
“I will definitely continue this next year,” Poch said. “We have some amazing underclassmen that I have confidence in to take the lead to continue this event after I have moved on.”
Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
