Photograph by Robert Scheer
Jesse Cordero (center) and Patrick Hoskins (right) work with Steven Damas at Columbia Middle School. Cordero coached several children in the 1996 Special Games at De Anza College.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Jesse Cordero, 13, handed 15-year-old Ernie Serrano a softball, showing him how to hold it. Cordero guided Serrano's arm as he threw the ball during the softball toss at the 18th annual Special Games held May 31 at De Anza College.
Cordero also held Serrano's hand and ran alongside him, cheering him on as he competed in the 50-yard dash. Cordero participates in the Builder's Club at Columbia Middle School, a community service group under the Kiwanis Club, which sponsors the Special Games. The games give severely handicapped kids a chance to take part in a competitive event.
"I like it because I get to help the disadvantaged kids. They get really happy. It's a real joy for them and it's fun for me," Cordero said.
Serrano's mother, Shirley, said he does not initiate a lot of contact with other kids, but loves to be at the Special Games receiving attention from the Builder's Club and hearing the clapping.
"He sees what they're doing and wants to do the same thing. He doesn't understand the competition aspect of it, but loves to be outside running and throwing," she said. She added that her son has participated in the Special Games for more than five years.
Cordero spent time before the games learning how to communicate with Serrano through sign language because Serrano is unable to speak.
"When he wants to drink or eat something, he can give a signal and I understand. He had a blast at the games. He was smiling the whole day," Cordero said.
This year's games were dedicated to Richard Hughey, a Sunnyvale Middle School Builder's Club member who was killed in a car accident last fall. Hughey's family asked that people not send flowers, but instead give any donations to the Special Games.
Ray Skitt, secretary for the Sunnyvale Kiwanis Club, coordinates the activities of the Builder's Clubs at Sunnyvale and Columbia Middle Schools and the Key Clubs at Fremont and Homestead High schools. The student clubs help out with the Special Games, which are designed after the Special Olympics, but oriented toward more handicapped kids who are unable to compete at that level.
Forty kids volunteered at the Special games, which had about 550 participants this year, Skitt said.
"It takes close to that number of people outside of the participants to put the games on. We need people to run each event and people to help kids move from event to event," Skitt said of the countywide event.
He added that he appreciated having kids volunteer who were "so committed, we didn't have to worry about what they were doing."
One of those kids was Patrick Hoskins, a 15-year-old Columbia Middle School student, who knelt at the finish line of the 10-yard dash to cheer on the child he was helping. Hoskins, who is dyslexic, knows what it's like to be different.
"I understand what it's like when people come down on you because you're not smart. I'm going to try to help other kids with problems. I enjoy watching them be happy and seeing their faces light up," Hoskins said.
Ginny Gonzales, an English teacher at Columbia who sponsors the school's Builder's Club, said working with physically challenged kids has motivated Hoskins to realize how talented he is.
"It helps him also to receive positive recognition from building rapports with these kids," she said.
Carolyn Wallace, who teaches the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Special Day Class for Severely Handicapped Children at Columbia, said the interaction between her kids and other kids has benefits for all. The Special Games offers handicapped children an opportunity to go someplace and have fun. She said groups of kids visit her room with reverse integration and do puzzles and read with the kids.
"They love it. A lot of them come in during breaks and visit. They go out for walks around the campus and hang out," she said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 12, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.