Special student athletes participate in 'VIP Track and Field Day' at Adelanto High School
Special needs student-athletes from across the Victor Valley Union High School District competed in the second annual VIP Track & Field Day at Adelanto High School.
During Thursday’s event, the athletes took to the field and track with Adelanto High cheerleaders supporting them, along with parents and family members in the stands at Julian P. Weaver Stadium.
“This is a unique event that exemplifies one of our core values: VVUHSD is a place for everyone,” said Superintendent Carl Coles, who was among several district staff members who attended. “These students are intensely competitive, but they’re also having a lot of fun. It has truly been an inspiring day.”
The event was created by Adelanto High adaptive PE teacher Mike LaBrosse and launched with the help of staff from Adelanto High and other district schools. Students compete in a wide range of events including sprints, relays, wheelchair races, high jump, long jump, and more.
Adelanto High students also chipped in to help run the events and to support the athletes.
Bigger success over last year
Labrosse said this year’s event was an even bigger success than last year’s inaugural event, which was the first of its kind in the High Desert.
“I’ve been doing adaptive PE for 29 years and this is something I’ve always wanted to do,” LaBrosse said. “Hopefully it catches on (in other districts).”
Adelanto High School hosted for the second straight year, welcoming its own students along with students from Silverado High School, Victor Valley High School, Cobalt Institute of Math & Science, Hook Junior High School and University Preparatory School.
“Our students are super excited to be at this event,” Silverado Principal Heather Conkle said. “It gives them an opportunity to compete at a high level. These are truly some of the most competitive athletes at our school.”
Creating the VIP Event
An adapted physical education specialist and Adelanto High School wrestling coach, LaBrosse said the idea to host a special track and field day came to him nearly 29 years ago.
“I was an adapted PE teacher who was itinerant, traveling from school to school,” LaBrosse told the Daily Press last year.
He said about six years ago, he stopped traveling and settled down at Adelanto High School. That’s when he figured it was time to start planning the competition.
LaBrosse began speaking with district officials and staff from other schools as they set their sights on a track and field event in 2020.
Plans for the event were halted when in March 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered schools to close across the state due to coronavirus concerns.
“By April 2020, we figured there would be no school, and that’s when we postponed our plans for a track and field event,” LaBrosse said.
In 2022, LaBrosse and his team began planning again after everyone was feeling a bit more comfortable and with COVID-19 numbers decreasing.
LaBrosse stated that the most important thing about the VIP Event was the happiness felt by the students, seen in the smiles on their faces.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Special needs student athletes participate in 'VIP Track and Field Day'
