Special Olympic Letterman in 'da House!

Playing catch-up with some blogs that should have been posted last year. Here is what happened in our family last October that was kind of a BIG DEAL. 


Over the summer, I was thinking about Andrew's upcoming senior year, senior pictures, etc. I remembered that many students have their senior photos taken not only in their formal attire for the yearbook, but also in their letterman jacket, if they have earned one. I wished Andrew had one for his sports, remembering how he had told me that he has always wanted one "like the cool kids" at school. Then I got to thinking....why CAN'T he have one? He plays two sports from the beginning to the end of the season, he works hard, he goes to all practices, and he competes. Just like all those kids he goes to school with. Only difference is that he plays for Special Olympics because it's a more appropriate and more comfortable environment for him, a teenage boy with developmental delays. 

I emailed Mr. K, our principal at FHS, asking him what he thought about allowing Special Olympics athletes at Foothill the opportunity to earn a varsity letter. I told him all the things I said in the above paragraph, and added that I just want to start the conversation. Without hesitation he emailed me back right away saying, "I love the idea! Why haven't we thought of this sooner?" And then it all began.

After school started, Mr. K and I sat down in his office and wrote up the new policy. Any Special Olympic athlete, in grades 10-12, that play their sport from the beginning to the end of the season, and have their coach and parent's signature, can earn a varsity letter from Foothill High School. Our other high school in Pleasanton, Amador Valley High School, adopted the new policy as well. (Side note: FHS wasn't the first to adopt this policy. There are a few schools in east Contra Costa County that also award varsity letters to Special Olympians, but we are the first in Alameda County.) 

That week, Mr. K personally delivered Andrew his letter at school.

Mr. K and Andrew, the day he received his letter

We then went to the Jacketback company in Livermore and ordered his letterman jacket. There is no way to properly explain Andrew's excitement. Matt from the Jacketback Company was so helpful. He helped us design the jacket, talked about where to stitch his name, sports, and the words, "Special Olympics." He even called Special Olympics Northern California (SONC) to ask if they can use their logo (which they agreed to), and they designed a patch just for SONC and Andrew's team name, "Tri-Valley Rockets." 

The day was finally here. October 9, 2015 I got the call and picked up his letterman jacket! It was waiting for him when he got home from school. Happy Boy!! 

Andrew and Mr. K

My dear friend Zoe Francis, who is a journalist, wrote our story for the CC/Tri-Valley Times, and it was in the paper on October 27th, 2015. You can read the story here.

The day the story came out in the paper, I posted it on Facebook. I purposely posted it "publicly" because I wanted it to be shared so that this new policy would hopefully happen at many more high schools. Well, what happened was far greater than I EVER expected!! My initial post was shared 140 times, had 134 comments on it and 268 likes. If you think about how many people saw this post just from the 140 shares alone, it's mind boggling. Then someone from our high school, Laura Curran, who I didn't know before this, was touched by our story and shared my post with Frank Somerville from KTVU. (Thank you, Laura!) He loved it and posted it on his page! You can see his post of Andrew here. Here come the more staggering numbers: his post of Andrew received 11,889 likes, 594 comments, and was shared 1,771 times!!! WHAT?!?! Yeah, it went nuts. I saw comments and posts from all over the Bay Area and all over the country that said, "We need to have this in our high school!" and "GO ANDREW!" It was touching, exciting, and overwhelming. 

The next day, October 28, I received a call from ABC7 news and they wanted to put our story on the 6:00 news. Oh my God! I was so excited and nervous, I frantically cleaned my house and couldn't stop shaking. They came over that day while Andrew was in school and interviewed me. Then when I picked Andrew up from school, I told him that a news crew was at our house and they want to interview him when we get home. He had about 4 minutes for this to sink in on the ride home, which isn't a lot for a kid (young man) with developmental delays and anxiety. Well, our big boy totally stepped up and Dan and I were amazed and SO PROUD of the job he did on that interview! I have lost count of how many times I've watched it! And yes, I tear up every single time. If you missed it, you can see the interview here. Added bonus, this happened on Dan and my 20th anniversary. :) 

It is now January 19 as I post this blog. Andrew still gets recognized once in a while and he still wears his jacket constantly, only removing it to shower and sleep, and he is wearing it right now while watching T.V. He is extremely proud of what he has earned, and what this means for future Special Olympic athletes at Foothill High School. He has always understood the hierarchy of high school kids, and has stated many times that he wants to be "popular." Andrew is always recognized at school now, everyone says hello to him, he high-fived all the football players after we won the big game against Amador...life is GOOD for our Andrew. This experience has completely made his senior year, in his words, "his best year ever."

Major kudos to Mr. K (aka Jason Krolikowski) for no hesitation and being so supportive of Andrew and all special needs students at Foothill High School. He is an incredible principal and we are all so fortunate that he is OUR principal. 

So let's all refill our wine glass, and make a toast to the inclusion of ALL athletes being awarded for their hard work! Cheers!