Basketball at it's finest--MHS vs. DRHS

On Tuesday, I  had the privilege to attend a basketball game between students with special needs from Mesquite High and Desert RIdge High at Mesquite.  It was so touching to watch these kiddos play basketball.  A couple of the Mesquite students had been my students at Gilbert El.

What was so touching to me was the support that the students got from the Mesquite students.  The band played, the cheerleaders cheered, both school mascots were there, and the two refs were MHS seniors on the varsity basketball team.  It was played during the students lunch hour and the gym was packed.  Students gave up their lunch time to be their to support their classmates and the kids from Desert RIdge.

As far as I am concerned, this is what it is all about!!! This makes all of the work that I have done in the past eleven months on the board so worthwhile!!  I am so proud of our wonderful District!!

Below is the story from Channel 3 about this game.  The video is wonderful but i wasn't able to download it onto this post.

 

It felt like a big playoff game at Mesquite High School in Gilbert Tuesday, with the band, cheerleaders and fired-up crowd. And that was the idea. "They don/t normally get an opportunity to play in front of a crowd of this magnitude," said coach Gloria Hernandez. "We really tried to make it as special as we could for them."

None of the players who took the court were star athletes, but they still showed plenty of passion finding the open shot.

The teams were made up of special needs students like Kiley Christiansen, who was getting a chance to show fans that their disabilities won't keep them down.
"It's kind of like showing off," said Christiansen. "It's like hey, we can do this, too."
"I always had this as my dream," said student Daniel Pizano. "I always dreamed of being on a team and now it's coming true."

This year's Unified basketball game was a back and forth battle between Mesquite High School and Desert Ridge High School, with parents on both sides... bursting with pride with every pass and drive to the hoop.

"They don't get a chance to watch their kids and share something like this," said special education teacher Angela Olberding. "We just wanted the kids to have that moment - have their kids at an event where the school is behind them."
"I thought it was amazing," said grandmother Tina Verdugo. "It was just amazing to see him play, to see all of them play, and all of them get a chance to do what most kids can do. It's their dream."

The game ended in a tie, but nobody seemed to care about the score. Both teams felt the thrill of victory in a game most players will never forget.