Coach Ashley Freeman congratulates students Ruby Chavis and twin brothers Fin and Liam Percy during the Willie Price Olympic Games awards ceremony. UM photo by Andrew Abernathy.
OXFORD, Miss. – On the same day that superstar swimmer Michael Phelps picked up his first individual gold medal of the London Olympic Games, four dozen 3- and 4-year-olds received gold medals on the Grove stage during the first-ever Willie Price Olympic Games.
Coordinated by the Willie Price Lab School at the University of Mississippi, the students spent the last six months training for the event during their physical education classes.
“We’ve been playing tennis with them for about two years already,” explained Ashley Freeman, Willie Price PE coach. “When we decided to host our own Olympics, we researched fun events for the students to learn and compete in.”
Three classes from the pre-kindergarten school represented different countries participating in this year’s summer Olympics, including the United States, England and Italy. The students competed Thursday morning in six events: an obstacle course, relay races, tennis ball shot put, foam noodle javelin, long jump and tennis.
Willie Price teachers led the events and junior UM baseball player Brett Huber carried a ceremonial Olympic paper torch during a “Walk of Countries” down the Walk of Champions path in the Grove. More than 20 parents also showed up to root for their little Olympians during the games.
After the games – and a quick picnic – each student climbed the awards podium on the Grove stage to receive his or her own gold medal.
“Hosting our little Olympics was a great way to encourage our students to be active, learn new skills and develop a new appreciation for the Olympics,” said Angela Rutherford, Willie Price director. “It’s also a great way to bring the parents in for a few hours and have fun. Who knows, we may have seen a future Olympian in our games!”
Part of the UM School of Education, Willie Price Lab School is a pre-K facility licensed by the Mississippi Department of Health. It has served the LOU community for more than 40 years. The school’s programming focuses on child development, and students must be 3 years old by September 1 of the year of enrollment.
For more information on programs in the UM School of Education, go to http://education.olemiss.edu/. To view more photos from the Willie Price Olympic Games, visit the school’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OleMissEdSchool.