Newburyport - When Nock Middle School students Christian Farren and Tyler Haynes learned about the Paralympic Games, they decided to start their own recreational sporting event to highlight the achievements of area kids with disabilities.

"It's difficult to qualify for Paralympics," Christian said at their first Empower-lympics Saturday, May 19. "We just decided to do our own version - any kid with a disability can get in."

The Paralympic Games is an elite international sporting event for athletes with physical disabilities; it is held every four years following the Olympic Games. The Special Olympics is for people with intellectual disabilities.

"We were doing regular occupational therapy things like writing," Tyler added, "and then we looked at each other and said wouldn't it be great to have some kind of field day here."

They approached the school district's Occupational Therapist Erin Rich, who suggested doing a variation of the Olympics. The two kids began to plan.
"These guys helped come up with the events," Rich said.

Soon everyone was on board - Jan Krusemark, gym teacher at the Nock, Principal Barry Hopping; retailer Life is Good, which donated 46 shirts; the Commission for Diversity and Tolerance, which donated funds; Shaw's, Angelina's, and a couple of anonymous donors. Soon Nock fifth grader Jessica Brown joined in the planning.

They couldn't use the term "Paralympics" so they came up with Empower-lympics, Christian said. They sent out fliers and e-mails to schools in neighboring communities, hospitals and other agencies and got a pretty good response for their first outing.

The boys are both 12 years old and had just completed a lesson on diversity and the Paralympics when they came up with their brainchild.

"Let the games begin!" Tyler proclaimed after a brief opening ceremony, and they were off.

Twelve kids, including four from Newburyport, signed up to take part in a series of individual events in the gym at Nock Middle School. An important part was not to compete with each other, but with their own personal best - although there were some hot races between friends in their power chairs.

Activities included the Wheel-round 500 (Christian's idea), a running race, an obstacle course, and a ring toss. Most of the kids were in wheelchairs, so Tyler will have to wait until future events to race other kids on crutches.

"It's a good celebration of their strengths," Rich said.

"I'm so proud of him, I can't even tell you," beamed Pam Farren, Christian's mom, who made all the certificates and awards.

"They don't have this in very many communities," Christian noted in the interview.
The boys hope to make this an annual event, with several practice meets throughout the coming year.

Anyone interested in participating in or volunteering for future events should email to fieldday07@gmail.com.