Riverhead High School
Riverhead High School is a four-year high school with approximately 1480 students in grades 9 through 12.
Athletics for the Challenged is a Section XI-sanctioned sports program. Participating schools (Riverhead, Longwood, Bellport, Bayshore, Brentwood, Mattituck, Shoreham-Wading River, Rocky Point, and Ward Melville) travel to a different high school every third Thursday of every month and compete in sports such as basketball, softball, cross country, and, most recently, a track meet.
Through adaptive physical education classes, students practice the skills necessary to compete in the particular sport featured on “sports day.” On Thursday it was Riverhead's turn to host sports day. Cadets from the NJROTC assisted with the afternoon's events, which included a softball throw, a timed run, hurdles, the long jump, and ended with a relay race involving all the schools. The team from Bay Shore came in first in the relay race and got medals for their effort. Each of the other events involved one school at a time as the teams rotated from one event to the next.
For those who watched from the sidelines, it was pretty clear that the event was designed to provide a safe, nurturing and supportive athletic event for student athletes with challenges and varying levels of athletic ability.
“Just try your best,” was the encouragement most often given from one RHS participant to her teammates.
RHS special education teacher Tim Page echoed this sentiment, “These events allow our students to see that athletes come with different abilities. Trying your best is a team’s strength.”
“We’re now in our 2nd year of participating in this program," explained Jill Zappulla, another special education teacher at RHS, "and it’s been a wonderful opportunity to showcase our athletes. Just wearing the uniform, traveling around Suffolk County in a school bus, working as a team, and competing at different schools are experiences that all students should be encouraged to do.”
“It’s the best!” RHS student Kerri Koelberl said enthusiastically. “I love to see my friends from other schools.”
It was a beautiful day and a beautiful event.
Source: Riverhead Central School District news release dated May 18, 2012
