Judy Williams
Growing up, I was the youngest of eight children in a blended family. I attended a brand new high school in Mars, Pa, and we were known as the mighty Mars Planets.
We never saw our special needs population. Their classroom was in the far end hallway and the only time I ever saw my challenged peers was when I observed their classroom one day, long after I had graduated.
I chose to attend Indiana University of Pa. for a very scholastic reason. Our high school band attended the musical each year, and I fell in love with the Oak Grove in which that theater was nestled, amidst many trees and a beautiful setting. I began college as a social studies major, but certain unforeseen events occurred that nearly shattered me, and I ended up meeting Marshall Flamm, who encouraged me daily. His positive influence led me into his department, which just happened to be special education.
I tutored elementary special needs children at a nearby school, I traveled to Ebensburg State School and worked with more severely challenged students there, and I spent my summers and every free moment working with MY kids at a private institution.
In 1971, Mr. Leslie McVicker introduced us to Special Olympics, a newly formed endeavor begun by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. We attended one of the first track and field
meets in Pittsburgh and I was hooked.Joe Cross, a special education teacher at Chestnut Ridge, began a local program in Bedford County in 1975. It began as a track and field meet at Chestnut Ridge and later, under the auspices of teacher Carol Carper, it eventually ended up at Chestnut Ridge. In its final days, there were more than 300 athletes, volunteers, and coaches. It was truly an incredulous experience for all involved.
As inclusion in the classrooms began and testing took precedence, it became more difficult to find time to practice in our separate classrooms for this one-day event. We began adding more sports, including basketball, softball, and bowling. The days of our large track meets ended, but they were replaced by the addition of more sporting opportunities for our challenged population in Bedford County.
I had coached junior high girls’ basketball for Bedford, and so my first new interests became basketball and softball. I became certified in equestrian, led by Lois Frederick at her farm, and later bocce and floor hockey. By that time, I had held all positions on the management team, and I had traveled to my first state summer games at Muhlenberg College. As our program struggled to keep active volunteers and coaches, I often held several positions at the same time.
I eventually stepped up to manager and remained in that position for many years. We added snowshoeing for a brief period of time, and we truly developed into a year-round training program. By then, I had met my husband, Norman, and when most vows included love, honor, and obey, mine added “and be entrenched in Special Olympics.”
He was my right hand and head gopher, and when it would become frustrating, he would encourage me to continue on. I’m not sure if the state program ever kept record of the times I threatened to resign, but each time, I would see an athlete succeed and I would cave back
in. This infatuation or obsession lasted for more than 40 years.
People often have the wrong perception of Special Olympics.
Yes, it includes Downs Syndrome athletes and those with greater athletic challenges, but it also includes students like my very own, whom I drafted from my learning support classroom. In fact, we were playing basketball in division two at Penn State, where Summer Games had moved to permanently, when a referee came up to me and questioned the caliber of my athletes. They would have fit in with any high school team because they had taught themselves street ball. They were awesome, and we called them our very own “Dream Team.”
When I asked him if he had substituted in my classroom a few weeks earlier, he replied that he had. I then replied, “These were your students. Don’t you recognize them?”
He was shocked, but that is part of the misconception of Special Olympics. Our goal was not to segregate or separate our athletes from their peers, but to give them the skills to fit in, and when possible, participate with them. As inclusion in the classroom grew, so did inclusion on the fields, on the courts, and in the pools.
My major regret with my passion for Special Olympics fell into the realm of my own children. Because so few wanted to commit the time to help the program exist and grow, we found ourselves coaching almost all the sports and doing much to keep Bedford County Special Olympics alive and well. That forced me to sacrifice time with our own two sons, and while we took them when we could, we often forfeited time with them to work with our special population.
As time went on, we were able to gain some new volunteers and athletes, but the biggest issue is the size of our county. The only way we could have served such a massive distance was to set up programs throughout the county, and that, unfortunately, never happened.
I was eventually nominated by Mary, my dear fellow volunteer and friend, to be a part of the State Hall of Fame and later Manager of the Year. To be on the stage with Joe Paterno, who was inducted the very same year, was prestigious but even more so was the opportunity to be inducted beside my very long-time athlete, Paul Riley. His life as an athlete models the very essence of the program, “Let Me Win, But if I can not win, Let me be Brave in the attempt.”
God created us all to be loved, cared for, respected, and treated with dignity. In my days working with institutionalized children, truly MY kids, I met Richard. He wasn’t born handicapped, but due to measles and encephalitis, he lost most of the abilities that a normal six- year-old would have. His sister died from the same dreaded conditions. Any one of us can have a handicapped child; anyone of us can become handicapped due to circumstance. I loved that child with all my heart, as I have loved so many, and when I lost him during my first year of teaching 150 miles away, my heart broke.
We are no longer involved with the local program but we do support the Polar Plunge and the concept. In Tim Shriver’s book “Fully Alive”, he writes about Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s passion and this incredible program. He is the CEO of Special Olympics.
God has blessed me with the opportunity for many years of making a difference in the lives of others, educationally, emotionally, athletically, and socially. I only hope that I have served him and our special friends with all the grace He has afforded me.
..-
Growing up, I was the youngest of eight children in a blended family. I attended a brand new high school in Mars, Pa, and we were known as the mighty Mars Planets.
We never saw our special needs population. Their classroom was in the far end hallway and the only time I ever saw my challenged peers was when I observed their classroom one day, long after I had graduated.
I chose to attend Indiana University of Pa. for a very scholastic reason. Our high school band attended the musical each year, and I fell in love with the Oak Grove in which that theater was nestled, amidst many trees and a beautiful setting. I began college as a social studies major, but certain unforeseen events occurred that nearly shattered me, and I ended up meeting Marshall Flamm, who encouraged me daily. His positive influence led me into his department, which just happened to be special education.
I tutored elementary special needs children at a nearby school, I traveled to Ebensburg State School and worked with more severely challenged students there, and I spent my summers and every free moment working with MY kids at a private institution.
In 1971, Mr. Leslie McVicker introduced us to Special Olympics, a newly formed endeavor begun by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. We attended one of the first track and field
meets in Pittsburgh and I was hooked.Joe Cross, a special education teacher at Chestnut Ridge, began a local program in Bedford County in 1975. It began as a track and field meet at Chestnut Ridge and later, under the auspices of teacher Carol Carper, it eventually ended up at Chestnut Ridge. In its final days, there were more than 300 athletes, volunteers, and coaches. It was truly an incredulous experience for all involved.
As inclusion in the classrooms began and testing took precedence, it became more difficult to find time to practice in our separate classrooms for this one-day event. We began adding more sports, including basketball, softball, and bowling. The days of our large track meets ended, but they were replaced by the addition of more sporting opportunities for our challenged population in Bedford County.
I had coached junior high girls’ basketball for Bedford, and so my first new interests became basketball and softball. I became certified in equestrian, led by Lois Frederick at her farm, and later bocce and floor hockey. By that time, I had held all positions on the management team, and I had traveled to my first state summer games at Muhlenberg College. As our program struggled to keep active volunteers and coaches, I often held several positions at the same time.
I eventually stepped up to manager and remained in that position for many years. We added snowshoeing for a brief period of time, and we truly developed into a year-round training program. By then, I had met my husband, Norman, and when most vows included love, honor, and obey, mine added “and be entrenched in Special Olympics.”
He was my right hand and head gopher, and when it would become frustrating, he would encourage me to continue on. I’m not sure if the state program ever kept record of the times I threatened to resign, but each time, I would see an athlete succeed and I would cave back
in. This infatuation or obsession lasted for more than 40 years.
People often have the wrong perception of Special Olympics.
Yes, it includes Downs Syndrome athletes and those with greater athletic challenges, but it also includes students like my very own, whom I drafted from my learning support classroom. In fact, we were playing basketball in division two at Penn State, where Summer Games had moved to permanently, when a referee came up to me and questioned the caliber of my athletes. They would have fit in with any high school team because they had taught themselves street ball. They were awesome, and we called them our very own “Dream Team.”
When I asked him if he had substituted in my classroom a few weeks earlier, he replied that he had. I then replied, “These were your students. Don’t you recognize them?”
He was shocked, but that is part of the misconception of Special Olympics. Our goal was not to segregate or separate our athletes from their peers, but to give them the skills to fit in, and when possible, participate with them. As inclusion in the classroom grew, so did inclusion on the fields, on the courts, and in the pools.
My major regret with my passion for Special Olympics fell into the realm of my own children. Because so few wanted to commit the time to help the program exist and grow, we found ourselves coaching almost all the sports and doing much to keep Bedford County Special Olympics alive and well. That forced me to sacrifice time with our own two sons, and while we took them when we could, we often forfeited time with them to work with our special population.
As time went on, we were able to gain some new volunteers and athletes, but the biggest issue is the size of our county. The only way we could have served such a massive distance was to set up programs throughout the county, and that, unfortunately, never happened.
I was eventually nominated by Mary, my dear fellow volunteer and friend, to be a part of the State Hall of Fame and later Manager of the Year. To be on the stage with Joe Paterno, who was inducted the very same year, was prestigious but even more so was the opportunity to be inducted beside my very long-time athlete, Paul Riley. His life as an athlete models the very essence of the program, “Let Me Win, But if I can not win, Let me be Brave in the attempt.”
God created us all to be loved, cared for, respected, and treated with dignity. In my days working with institutionalized children, truly MY kids, I met Richard. He wasn’t born handicapped, but due to measles and encephalitis, he lost most of the abilities that a normal six- year-old would have. His sister died from the same dreaded conditions. Any one of us can have a handicapped child; anyone of us can become handicapped due to circumstance. I loved that child with all my heart, as I have loved so many, and when I lost him during my first year of teaching 150 miles away, my heart broke.
We are no longer involved with the local program but we do support the Polar Plunge and the concept. In Tim Shriver’s book “Fully Alive”, he writes about Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s passion and this incredible program. He is the CEO of Special Olympics.
God has blessed me with the opportunity for many years of making a difference in the lives of others, educationally, emotionally, athletically, and socially. I only hope that I have served him and our special friends with all the grace He has afforded me.
..-
Class of 2019
Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County, Pennsylvania