Volunteers are the backbone of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Without our volunteers, we’d never be able to provide competition, leadership, health and so many other opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to Samantha Zimmerman Gearhart, Elk County, for being named our Volunteer of the Month for April 2024!
Samantha is featured this month as an Unified Sports volunteer and her role is the head coach of St. Marys Area High School’s Unified bocce team.
We had the chance to chat with Samantha about how she started coaching Unified bocce, the impact Unified sports have had on the school community and so much more. Congratulations Samantha on this accomplishment, and we are so lucky to have you as a coach!
When I was in high school, my mother was a volunteer for our community’s Track & Field Day. She helped set up all the track events, did all the paperwork, so I became a buddy that day. From there I gained exposure to Special Olympics. I liked the mission and liked what it was all about.
I went to college to become a secondary educatory teacher for math and then I got my master’s in special education. I started working at St. Marys High School and I coach several different sports, including varsity soccer, volleyball, track & field. I think I just fell in love with what sports can do for kids and what extracurriculars can do. Then when [Dr.] Mollie [Anzinger] approached with the possibility of adding Unified sports, I was all about it.
We added a Unified bocce ball team [in 2023]. Being a teacher in the building, I was able to spread the word and get everyone involved and my partners did a wonderful job with school-wide assemblies and things like that. We ended up going all the way to states and won it [in our first year as a program]. The whole building, you could see the inclusion, see the culture change.
When I first started out, I was nervous it wasn’t really going to take off. On paper it looks good. But everyone was so supportive and it took off instantly. There can be a lot of negativity in sports. You’re tearing each other down a lot and this was a great opportunity to build each other up. Our student sections were asking to take buses to the meets to support the team, we started an inclusive club at our school. We meet every other week, play games, go bowling, all different sorts of activities. It changed the atmosphere. I couldn’t be more proud of the school community.
As students in high school we’ve all witnessed the cliques that happen. Even in the cafeteria you can see the groups that sit together and do things together. Now, with Unified sports, I see different combinations of students sitting together. It started with our bocce team. The athletes and partners develop true friendships beyond just practice. They walk down the hallways together, they sit together at lunch, they play video games on the weekends. It’s everyday life. We’re heading in the right direction as a community and I’m excited to see what the future holds.
My most memorable moment… One of our athletes worked up his confidence throughout the season and he actually decided to compete in our school talent show. Everybody was cheering for him. He won first in the talent show for dancing and he talks about how he gained confidence throughout this whole process and how he was supported by his peers. It was cool to see his classmates and friends all cheering him on. It was nice knowing that confidence came from everyone supporting each other.
I would just encourage others to be a volunteer. If you spend one day helping out in any way, shape, or form you won’t regret it.
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