Acalanes High in Lafayette Hosts 3rd Annual Special Olympics Track & Field Games

More than 550 Bay Area special education students will get to participate in an invitational track and field competition known as Bay Area Games on Tuesday -- April 29 -- at Acalanes High School in Lafayette. 

Hosted by Special Olympics Northern California as part of its Schools Partnership Program, the 2014 Bay Area Games is the third annual interscholastic competition created specifically for special education students-athletes. 

Students from across the Bay Area will make the trip to the East Bay to compete with special education students hailing from Contra Costa and San Mateo counties, the Tri-Valley area, the city of San Francisco and Mission Valley (New Haven, Fremont and Newark). 

Serving as active participants, peer partners and race timers, more than 150 non-disabled students from Acalanes High School will volunteer at Bay Area Games. 

The day’s events begin at 10 a.m. with Opening Ceremonies, which are followed by three action-packed hours of track and field competition. 

Every student-athlete will be recognized for their achievements by having a Special Olympics Bay Area Games medal draped around their necks by Bay Area law enforcement. 

The 550 special education student-athletes – who range in age from kindergarten to transition – have been all been training for the competition as part of the Special Olympics Schools Partnership Program. The Schools Partnership Program provides 24 weeks of training in three sports – soccer, basketball and track and field – to over 4,600 special education students. 

All three editions of the annual Bay Area Games were made possible in part by Chevron, an annual partner of Special Olympics Northern California. 

For more information on Bay Area Games and to see a list of current participating schools, visit www.BayAreaGames2014.org.