For the second straight year, Bert Church High School made a trip to Ontario to represent Alberta at the Special Olympics Ontario Invitational International Youth Games.  

And, for the second straight year, the team of athletes, two with developmental disabilities and two without, have made Airdrie proud by bringing home a medal from the competition along with some wonderful memories.

The games were held from May 14th to the 17th.  Cynthia Dahl and Ian Ferguson were the two teachers who went along with the four student-athletes.  Dahl says the entire experience was unforgettable.

"It was a great trip.  We left Monday (May 13) and then experienced the opening ceremonies on Tuesday evening and that was great as there were teams there from Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, all across the United States and Canada so it was a great event there.  Kids were excited.  They got to play on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and they ended up getting bronze in their division."

The medal came in bocce.  Last year the Bert Church team won a gold medal in the same event.  

This year's event was the first ever international games held for high school aged students with and without intellectual disabilities.  Dahl says the athletes were excited to be part of history.  "Being part of something historic.   In the opening ceremonies, you could really feel that.  They were proud and excited to be a part of that event."

Last year, Bert Church was the only school chosen to represent the province.  This year, students from two other schools, L.Y. Cairns School and Strathcona High School who have become advocates for unified sports also took part in the games for Alberta.  In 2017 Bert Church was named the Unified Sports School of the Year in the province.

Dahl says the four Bert Church students really gelled as a team while in Toronto.  "They really came together as a team," she explains.  "They would group together before each game and one of our students would give everybody a little pep talk and a cheer,  They loved it, they were really good team members and showed good sportsmanship.  They just had a lot of fun."

The four students who represented the school were Ami Schaan, Emma Rockwell, Colter Cannon and Jayden Riley. 

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