Special Olympics Montana honors Polson program

Add another prestigious award to the Polson Pirates’ treasure trove.

During a ceremony at the Polson High School auditorium on April 28, a representative from Special Olympics Montana handed the Local Program of the Year award to coaches and athletes of the Polson program.

Polson was among seven nominees for the state award. A committee of statewide volunteers decides the winner of the honor, “for the accredited Special Olympics program that shows the greatest improvement, best exemplifies the Special Olympics spirit and concept, and provides a well developed year-round program for athletes, coaches, volunteers and families of Special Olympics Montana.”

Mandy Patriarche, vice president of outreach for Great Falls-based Special Olympics Montana, traveled to Polson for the ceremony, which opened with a slideshow of images from the program’s activities and a torch relay through the auditorium.

Det. Hazeez Rafiu of the Polson Police Department and Officer Kyle Cooper, law enforcement torch run representative for Lake County, assisted with the torch relay before joining coaches and student-athletes on stage for the award presentation.

The excited group of students received an added surprise along with the award. Polson program coordinator and coach Kris Kelly, a special education teacher at Polson High School, had been conducting the program remotely since March 2020. Kelly’s daughter had been considered “medically fragile” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Kelly was under strict quarantine as a precaution for more than a year. In that time, her students only communicated with her remotely via Zoom, email or phone.

Before presenting the award, Patriarche asked the students on stage to introduce themselves, one by one, then asked, “Did we miss someone?”

That’s when Kelly emerged from backstage to shrieks of joy and a round of hugs from her students and fellow coaches.

“I hadn’t seen my students in person since last March,” she said Monday. “Every day from 7:45 to 3:30 I get on the computer and I’m there all day.”

She went to great lengths to keep her appearance a secret.

“Not very many people in the school knew. I didn’t even tell my special education teachers. I didn’t want the secret to get out.”

Kelly announced that she would return to her classroom the following week and attend in person for the remainder of the school year. She brought a gift with her on stage, a flowering plant and a big hug for fellow coach Melesa Butler, a special education teacher at Polson Middle School.

She said she tries to teach her Special Olympics kids lifelong lessons for these kids.

“It’s not just a sport in my room and in the middle school. It’s a job. They’re going to be in Special Olympics, but they also can get fired from Special Olympics. It’s a privilege, not a guaranteed right.”

The Polson program generally takes 40-50 people to events all over the state.

“Everyone has to chip in,” Kelly said. “and they all have ownership in it.”

She also stressed the importance of keeping things fun.

“When we go on a trip, we always try to do things like go to the carousel or a park. We try to do things they wouldn’t normally get to do. We’ve been to the Bison Range, Zoo Montana, the Museum of the Rockies.”

She credited the entire community with fostering a great environment for the program to thrive.

“Tim Berg, our special education director, has been great, and I’ve had great principals along the way. There’s been good buy-in from the community and administration.”

Lake County torch relay this week

The Special Olympics of Montana torch will make its way through Lake County on Wednesday and Thursday (May 5-6). Volunteers will begin the local relay Thursday morning at the top of Jette Hill. The torch will travel to Polson High School, then down to Main Street, before heading on to Pablo and Ronan, and all the way to Arlee by day’s end. Lake County volunteers will then hand it off to those from Missoula County. The relay will continue on to Bozeman, designated site for this year’s State Games. Competition has already taken place, however, since the event was held virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. Teams have already logged their times and distances. A local awards ceremony is being planned for late May.