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wltx.com | Blind, Deaf Kids Raise Awareness By Jumping Rope
How do you measure an accomplishment? For a group of kids at one South Carolina school, it’s the length of a jump rope. This special group of elementary through high school-age students is defying the odds set against them.
The thirteen boys and girls who pound the gym floor at the South Carolina School For The Deaf and The Blind are getting ready for a routine they’ve practiced—and presented—many times before.
“Now, now!” yells their coach, Kim Speer, as one of her students leaps into the middle of Double-Dutch ropes.
Across the room, a group of four students stands close together, ready to leap into the air, as a fifth person swings a rope over their head. To their left, another student is bouncing up and down on a pogo stick, hopping in time to another rotating jump rope.
“Much better!” Coach Kim yells out.
The kids here come from across South Carolina (including the Midlands) and must be visually or hearing impaired to enroll in the state-funded school. SCSDB has over three hundred students, many of whom board Monday through Friday then return home on the weekends.
“Good job!” a volunteer adds.
This is the Hoppin’ Hornets twice weekly practice. Over and over again the thirteen students practice basic through advanced skills. Advanced Physical Education Specialist Kim Speer has worked with these kids for more than two decades. She says her boys and girls are constantly inventing new tricks.
“Back in 1984, there were no jump ropes here at the school. I didn’t think that my students could jump rope,” Speer said.
Her uncertainty came from the fact that all her students are visually or hearing impaired, and many have other disabilities as well. They started with jump ropes as a way for the students to have a simple, inexpensive physical activity. Speer says she never allows her students to use the word “can’t,” and soon, they were defying her expectations.
“They can jump, and they are so good,” Speer said.
Five years ago, the American Heart Association caught on and invited the Hoppin Hornets to be one of three demo teams in South Carolina. The School For The Deaf and The Blind has always held an annual Jump Rope For The Heart event, but the demo team takes raising awareness a step further.
Ten times a year, the ‘Hornets travel to public elementary schools around the state and put on a performance to energize other kids about jump rope.
“They can do stuff we can’t even do! I think it’s really impressive,” said Katie Lloyd, a fifth-grader at Anderson Mill Road Elementary School in Moore. Lloyd and her classmates saw a Hoppin’ Hornets performance last week.
SCSDB parents say the team has been an unbelievable confidence booster for their kids.
“It makes her happy, and what makes her happy makes me happy,” said Mary Belton.
Belton, who is from Cassett, Kershaw County, has a thirteen-year-old daughter who began attending the School For The Deaf and The Blind last fall.
“Self-esteem. Her self-esteem is a lot better than it was,” Belton said.
The Beltons made the decision to take Jasmine out of Kershaw County Public Schools and enroll her at SCSDB in the hope that she would excel further in an environment focused on needs like hers.
“At the other schools, because of her disability, I don’t think she would have been able to be on any teams, and that means a lot to her,” Belton said.
Jasmine says she’s enjoying her new school, and her new place on the jump rope team.
“It’s fun! That’s about it!” she said with a smile.
How do you measure an accomplishment? For a group of kids at one South Carolina school, it’s the length of a jump rope. This special group of elementary through high school-age students is defying the odds set against them.
The thirteen boys and girls who pound the gym floor at the South Carolina School For The Deaf and The Blind are getting ready for a routine they’ve practiced—and presented—many times before.
“Now, now!” yells their coach, Kim Speer, as one of her students leaps into the middle of Double-Dutch ropes.
Across the room, a group of four students stands close together, ready to leap into the air, as a fifth person swings a rope over their head. To their left, another student is bouncing up and down on a pogo stick, hopping in time to another rotating jump rope.
“Much better!” Coach Kim yells out.
The kids here come from across South Carolina (including the Midlands) and must be visually or hearing impaired to enroll in the state-funded school. SCSDB has over three hundred students, many of whom board Monday through Friday then return home on the weekends.
“Good job!” a volunteer adds.
This is the Hoppin’ Hornets twice weekly practice. Over and over again the thirteen students practice basic through advanced skills. Advanced Physical Education Specialist Kim Speer has worked with these kids for more than two decades. She says her boys and girls are constantly inventing new tricks.
“Back in 1984, there were no jump ropes here at the school. I didn’t think that my students could jump rope,” Speer said.
Her uncertainty came from the fact that all her students are visually or hearing impaired, and many have other disabilities as well. They started with jump ropes as a way for the students to have a simple, inexpensive physical activity. Speer says she never allows her students to use the word “can’t,” and soon, they were defying her expectations.
“They can jump, and they are so good,” Speer said.
Five years ago, the American Heart Association caught on and invited the Hoppin Hornets to be one of three demo teams in South Carolina. The School For The Deaf and The Blind has always held an annual Jump Rope For The Heart event, but the demo team takes raising awareness a step further.
Ten times a year, the ‘Hornets travel to public elementary schools around the state and put on a performance to energize other kids about jump rope.
“They can do stuff we can’t even do! I think it’s really impressive,” said Katie Lloyd, a fifth-grader at Anderson Mill Road Elementary School in Moore. Lloyd and her classmates saw a Hoppin’ Hornets performance last week.
SCSDB parents say the team has been an unbelievable confidence booster for their kids.
“It makes her happy, and what makes her happy makes me happy,” said Mary Belton.
Belton, who is from Cassett, Kershaw County, has a thirteen-year-old daughter who began attending the School For The Deaf and The Blind last fall.
“Self-esteem. Her self-esteem is a lot better than it was,” Belton said.
The Beltons made the decision to take Jasmine out of Kershaw County Public Schools and enroll her at SCSDB in the hope that she would excel further in an environment focused on needs like hers.
“At the other schools, because of her disability, I don’t think she would have been able to be on any teams, and that means a lot to her,” Belton said.
Jasmine says she’s enjoying her new school, and her new place on the jump rope team.
“It’s fun! That’s about it!” she said with a smile.