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Staff and students at a boarding school in northeastern Russia are firm believers that Special Olympics improves the lives of young people with intellectual disabilities. The school is located in the village of Bagryaniki in the Yaraslavl Region. The 140 students range in age from 8 to 18, have mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, and all come from broken homes, mainly due to alcoholism, or have been orphaned.
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Since 1995, the school has kept statistics on all of its graduates, such as Albert Bezrukov, pictured above, after they leave. The statistics focus on family life, self-reliance and good citizenship, which are considered the three most important aspects of a graduate's life. The oldest former graduate is 44; only four have been in trouble with the law. Many of the graduates come back to visit, others settle in the nearby village. "Our graduates gain comfort knowing that someone will always be interested in them as human beings," school Director Musa Vantsayev said. |
Albert Bezrukov, a graduate of the school, grew up in Bagryaniki. "I remember everything about the day I came to the school in 1989. I was scared and felt like an outsider because the other boys had been together since kindergarten. It took me about a year to feel comfortable but everyone helped me to become part of the group," he said.
Bezrukov loves sports and continues to be active in Special Olympics. He served in the military, working in the car pool, and received excellent reports from his superiors. Today, he lives near the school and has rebuilt a house he shares with his partner and child. A licensed tractor driver, he works as a foreman at the school's dairy farm.
The school has had a Special Olympics Program since 1993 and offers football, volleyball, floor hockey, badminton, tennis, athletics and basketball. The school holds physical education classes twice a week while Special Olympics training is a popular extracurricular activity once a week. According to school Director Musa Vantsayev, "One of the reasons the school puts a high emphasis on sports is that we found out that children cannot sustain physical fitness, communicate with each other or control their emotions without an active sports program. Sport provides incentives, opens perspectives and shows an individual his true potential. Special Olympics provides extra pluses: the incentive to participate in competitions and develop self-respect and respect for others, while divisioning provides equal opportunity."
Ivan Gilenskiy, a physical education teacher for 25 years, said that he can see what the children are like with and without Special Olympics. "We see our children brighter and happier, with their will and skills strengthened. We can see this expressed in the classroom. We can see they are more motivated, more self-confident and are held in high regard by others. Children and teachers understand the positive nature of the Special Olympics philosophy," he said.
This profile excerpted from an article that originally appeared in Spirit magazine
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