It’s difficult to think of a better way to end the school year.
White Pines students in the DARE Program (Developing Alternative Realistic Expectations) returned home with two silver medals after putting up stunning performances in soccer and bocce at the Special Olympics School Championships in Chatham-Kent, Ont. last month.
But the hardware was only the icing on the cake.
“It’s about supporting each other,” said Life Skills department head and program coordinator Scott MacDonald. “You watch these students out on the field. They’re not only supporting each other, but each other’s teams as well. It’s such a beautiful thing to be a part of.”
MacDonald has been with DARE for the past 20 years, a program that started at the old Alexander Henry before it moved to White Pines.
Between the high school and its field schools, the program currently works with around 60 local students and young adults who live with intellectual and physical disabilities. They’re taught life skills and social skills to prepare them for society.
Many of them have job placements around town, including at familiar locations like the Bushplane Museum, Davey Home, Station Mall, Team Essentials, Community Living Algoma, Sault Area Hospital, John Rhodes, and GFL.
“It’s an absolutely unbelievable program,” MacDonald told SooToday. “I feel blessed to be in it every day and work with these students.”
White Pines students were among 7,000 athletes who participated in Special Olympic qualifiers around Ontario this year.
They competed in a pair of northern Ontario qualifiers in soccer and bocce where both teams from the east-end high school earned the right to go to Chatham-Kent for the Games.
The kids even got to ride in style on the 10-hour drive south.
“We took the Soo Greyhounds bus,” MacDonald said. “They felt like royalty being able to ride in it. They had so much fun on the way there; singing karaoke, playing games.”
“For a lot of them, this is their first time away from home,” he added. “What a skill for them to learn and understand that yes, you can be independent and do things on your own. Not only was it a great sporting event, but it was also a great life-learning event for them as well.”
Isabel Nentwig, a DARE student and bocce player who lives with dwarfism, moved to the Sault three years ago and has been in the program since.
She has been blown away by the opportunities she’s gotten up north compared to her time living in southern Ontario.
“It changed my whole life,” she said. “Down south, I didn’t really get a high school experience, but up here I am — and I love it. I never thought I’d ever work in my whole life because of my condition. Mr. MacDonald helped me get a summer job at CLA and I love it there.”
Although they didn’t medal in bocce last year, Nentwig was thrilled to help put Sault Ste. Marie’s team on notice this time around by bringing home a silver.
“The trip down was so much fun,” she said. “It was nice both teams brought something back from the same place. It felt really good.”
“It was so much fun,” student Jersie Guay added. “We were really happy with how we played.”
On the soccer front, MacDonald witnessed one of the most outstanding displays of sportsmanship from a White Pines player during a tight overtime in the gold medal game.
“One of our players was running down the field with the ball, and an opposing team member was trying to stop him, and they ended up falling on the field,” he recalled. “Instead of our player continuing along with the ball towards the net, he stopped, helped that other player up, and actually gave him the ball.”
“There was no greater feeling than being able to see that beautiful display of just caring for one another, and that’s truly what the Special Olympics is,” he said.
“It was a really good experience on the field,” student Colin Burgan added. “We were really happy with the silver.”
MacDonald runs the DARE Program alongside instructors Carla Muto, Tammy Caswell and Randi Moss.
Moss was actually a recipient of the 12 Days of Christmas Random Acts of Kindness for having a positive impact on students. She was surprised with gifts by Village Media's Community Cares Team in front of an auditorium full of students in December 2022.
“Everybody was just so nice down there,” she said. “The team we were playing, we were laughing and calling each other’s kids by names. Nobody left there a loser — we were both winners. It was just fun.”
While everyone at the event was incredibly respectful, MacDonald recognizes there is still unfortunately a stigma associated with students who have special needs and intellectual disabilities.
But he noted the kids are consistently showcasing their talents — with confidence.
“Our students are capable of anything, and they show it day in and day out,” he said. “These are students who are going to show up every single day, they’re going to do anything for you and work hard. When they’re out in those work placements, every message we get back from our employers is how amazing and dependable our students are.”
Employed in this area for more than two decades now, MacDonald has learned a lot about the students and what it takes to work with them effectively.
He’s also learned a lot about himself.
“I’ve learned how to be more humble,” he said. “When I look at what our students deal with on a daily basis — that struggle to come to school and to try and make people understand they are worth it.”
“That’s allowed me to see the true beauty that each and every one of these students have.”