Kiwanis Day of Champions, special needs children track and field day, ‘Day of a million smiles’

Kiwanis Day of Champions, a track and field day celebration for special needs children, was hosted at the South Sound Stadium next to North Thurston High School (NTHS) on May 31.

“Day of Champions is back and it was an amazing day! North Thurston Public School Special Needs students enjoyed a great day of modified track and field events,” said the club’s Facebook post. The kids all received gold medals. “Everyone is a winner at this event!”

The club thanked the participating volunteers and staff, “Thank you to our amazing volunteers from the community and Kiwanis club of North Thurston, student volunteers from three high schools, our military volunteers, Military brass band, cheerleaders and the NTPS staff we worked with to make this event a reality once again.  Fun had by all!”

The children arrived in the midmorning on a hot, but nice day. Participants came from the North Thurston Public Schools (NTPS) elementary, middle and high schools.

The event was hosted by the Kiwanis Club of North Thurston, 2019 was the last Kiwanis Day of Champions and planned by Karen Schoessel, the chairperson of the club.

Cheers were led by volunteer cheerleaders from different high schools, and mascots such as Eddy the Eagle, school mascots, military, police officers, firemen, teachers, students, etc. In all, there were over 300 volunteers helping at the event.

To start the event, a parade was held of the involved schools and the military was led by Superintendent Clemens and NTPS Board Member Tiffany Sevruk.

The games began after the parade, which consisted of track and field events such as the 50-meter dash, noodle javelin, bowling, long jump, obstacle course, shuttle run, frisbee toss, parachute, bug ball and more. 

This was a non-competitive event for kids of all ages to have fun, from kindergarten to grade 12.  This event is nicknamed "Day of a Million Smiles.”

There were over 300 children participants and they each received a medal, a free t-shirt and lunch.

Community vendors and a lot of donations came from organizations in the community.