Dryden Games return after multi-year hiatus

Since May 2015, Dryden High School teacher Krista Gillette has held the Dryden Games on an annual basis. It is an event that provides an opportunity for differently abled students to compete in athletics. With the help of many volunteers ranging from Dryden students to Cornell University athletes, the event was held May 20 and was a success.

Due to COVID-19, it was the first time the event has been held since 2019. It was also the first time students from Lansing were able to participate, representing growth in the event’s seventh year as the participation number reached 50 students. Gillette looked back at the beginning of the Dryden Games, which were inspired by a former Dryden student, Cheyenne Loveless, who suffered a brain aneurysm in middle school.

“When [Cheyenne] was a senior in high school, I had her as a student,” Gillette said. “She was talking to me one day about wanting to compete in athletics in our community. In Tompkins County, we have Special Olympics, and there’s some other programs that take place for kids with disabilities, but not many. We looked up the opportunities, and some of the activities for her to do were hours away. So, we were just sitting in my office and said, ‘Why don’t we start our own games here?’”

Providing the opportunity to students from other districts is a goal for the Dryden Games. TST BOCES (which did not participate this year due to COVID-19) and Lansing are the first districts outside of Dryden to participate. Gillette discussed expanding the games around Tompkins County.

“Cheyenne and I were talking about it, and we really looked at our athletic program and how able-bodied athletes have so many opportunities to participate in athletics and be part of a team and enjoy fitness and competition,” Gillette said. “A lot of, again, kids with disabilities do not have that opportunity. So, our goal, our ultimate goal, is to eventually open this program up to other school districts in the area. But we’re kind of doing a slow rollout.”

There was an impressive amount of participation from the community to help run the event. From setting up and operating stations to partnering with individual athletes for the day, there were plenty of opportunities to help.

“All of our Dryden athletes get what we call buddies, which are high school students that have been selected,” Gillette said. “They’re kids that are on athletic teams or kids that are on honor roll and in some of our local clubs in Dryden. They come out and they’re buddies with the students. We have about 30 buddies that pair up with these kids. We’re trying to teach them inclusion and how to have conversations with kids with disabilities and not to be afraid of them.”

There are multiple stations set up on Dryden’s turf field and track and a few on the JV soccer field below the football field. The athletes make their way from station to station to get a full day of activities in.

“It’s track and field events and it’s soccer events,” Gillette said. “It’s all broken up into categories and sections based on their classification. So, they technically don’t even know who they’re competing against. They go around to the different events, whatever they signed up for, and will compete in those events. Then at the end of the day, we have a big award ceremony for them based on how they do.”

The two-year layoff did not make things difficult when Gillette wanted to bring back the games. In fact, the interest was present throughout the pandemic.

“I think the hardest part was kids wanting to be in it and we couldn’t have it because of COVID,” Gillette said. “But luckily, we have such a great admin that’s been supportive of it. Once we reached out in the beginning of the year and said, ‘Can we do it?,’ they said to have at it. … Everyone was just so excited that we’re coming back, and luckily, we jumped right back in as if we haven’t missed the last two years.”

This year’s event was fully funded by sponsorships and had a sizable turnout of community support. While it’s always an objective to keep growing the games, Gillette has bigger and more meaningful goals in mind.

“In future years, we would love more support,” Gillette said. “We’d love to make this event bigger. We would love people to learn about the event. But I think at this point, what we would love most is the educational piece and the inclusion piece and having those conversations with people about the importance of inclusion and acceptance. It’s a tough world right now, as we all know. To have those conversations and to be kind, loving, tolerant of different people and their abilities is important.”

Those interested in assisting in future Dryden Games can connect with Gillette via email at kgillet1@dryden.k12.ny.us.

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