Huron Expositor, 2004-06-09, Page 13Sports
Visually impaired students get
a chance to bowl a few rounds
By Poul Cluff
Beacon -Herald Staff
The bus ride to Mike's
Bowling Lanes was a rowdy
one.
Students from the Avon
Maitland District School
board were anxious to hit the
lanes, meet some new
friends and enjoy a couple of
hours away from the
classroom.
The youngest just started
junior kindergarten and the
eldest bunch were heading
off to college next year.
Most of them don't get
nearly enough chances to get
out and stretch their legs on
field trips, in part because of
a lack of funding for
students who are visually
impaired.
A normally quiet spring
day at Mike's turned into a
noisy one, with laughs
following the strikes and
spares and a few impossible
splits left here and there.
"They were singing the
whole way here on the bus,"
said Tracy Lamont, who
helped organize the trip
along with John Baxter and
Linda Easton, teachers of the
visually impaired with the
Avon Maitland District
School Board.
"We thought this
nice for the
kids to have
some fun."
There • are
only about 40
students with
vision
difficulties in
the board and
funding for
them takes up
only a half per
cent of the
special
education
budget in the
province, says
Ms. Easton.
For many
years, Ms.
Easton did the job herself.
She retires this year, leaving
Mr. Baxter hoping the board
will hire additional help over
the summer.
"Not sure what's
happening next year," said
Baxter. "The field of visual
impairment is a very small
slice of the board. Within
that slice is a tremendous
would be
amount of diversity, from a
child that is totally blind that
needs everything tactile ... to
a student who has maybe a
small vision
condition."
The recent
excursion
was about
escaping
routine, said
the teacher.
"What we
wanted to do
is give these
children a
chance to
meet each
other and to
make them
realize they
are not the
only students
with a visual
Quoted
'Everyone
needs
somewhere to
go have fun.
Having fun is
the main thing.'
Len Barber, Mike's
general manager
impairment."
Katie Crosland, of
Listowel met a few friends
relatively close to her age.
"This is awesome. It's
good for all of us," she said.
Katie's group was having
fun with gutter -free bowling.
"I like it with the bumpers
and without," said Marissa
Engardt, 13, from Ann
Hathaway Public School.
Over at the next lane, John
Hyde was showing them
how it's done.
"Haven't been out
bowling for a while," he said
modestly.
Big John, his name on the
televised scoreboard, shot an
impressive 122. Katie and
John are not just good
bowlers. They will attend
Mohawk and Algonquin
Colleges, respectively, next
year.
Mike's general manager
Len Barber said the lanes
will likely stay open until
late June end most of the
action usually takes place on
the weekends.
"Everyone needs
somewhere to go to have
fun," he said. "Having fun is
the main thing."
After bowling, everyone
got a medal and lined up for
a group picture.
Then it was off to
McDonald's for snacks. The
Seaforth Lions Club made
the day possible by
graciously picking up the tab
for the bus, the games and
dinner afterwards.
THE HURON IMPOSTOR, June ',1004.13
Scott Wishart photo
Volunteer Linda Feeney of Dublin and Jason Lamont, 4, of
Seaforth wait for the pins to fall during an afternoon of
bowling recently at Mike's Lanes in Stratford.
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