Liberty High School’s unified program, also known as Liberty Champions Together, is one of, if not the biggest, clubs/programs at Liberty. Liberty Champions Together strives for inclusion between those with and without intellectual disabilities. They have a sports program all school year where they play sports like Bocce xBall, Kickball, Basketball, Cheerleading, and track and field. Liberty Champions Together is an amazing program that you should definitely consider joining if you aren’t already a part. We host middle school volleyball tournaments, go to the state fair, and attend many more events, including the Little Feet Meet.
The Special Olympics Virginia Feet Meet is funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to build school communities of acceptance and inclusion through the engagement of young people both with and without intellectual disabilities.
This past Friday, September 26, Liberty High School hosted the 2025 Fauquier County Little Feet Meet. The Little Feet Meet is when we invite all of the FCPS1 preschool programs and elementary special education programs to Liberty for a field day. We had over 300 total students from Liberty High School, Cedar Lee Middle School, Bradley Elementary School, Grace Miller Elementary School, MM Pierce Elementary School, Coleman Elementary School, Greenville Elementary School, and C. Hunter Ritchie School attend the Feet Meet this year, which is a record for Liberty High School.
This year’s Little Feet Meet began with the opening ceremony. Junior, Ivy Cavins, was the main speaker during the opening ceremony with features by freshman, Ginger Shook, and post-grad/transition program students Ben Gillan and Peyton Cole. After the opening remarks, the national anthem was played by transition student, Max Smith-Levin, on the keyboard. Max is legally blind, so his musical abilities are extremely impressive. After the national anthem was the torch lighting ceremony. More than 2,000 officers across Virginia are involved in the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Virginia. Each June, they carry the Flame of Hope more than 1,900 miles across Virginia to kick off the Summer Games in Richmond. Senior Avery Walker and post-grad student Owen Freidline carried the torch to the center of the football field, where they placed it inside its podium. The torch symbolizes the spirit of competition and fair play that burns in the heart of every Special Olympics athlete. After the torch lighting ceremony, post-grad student Ben Gillan asked the audience to recite the Athlete’s Oath, which is a Special Olympics tradition. “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” After the reciting of the Athlete’s Oath, we were officially able to “Let the games begin” as stated by alum, Peyton Cole.
At Liberty’s Little Feet Meet this year, we had 3 sets of 8 stations. Each group had 8 minutes at each station and rotated through all of the stations one time. The stations consisted of Chalk and Bubbles, Egg Race, Soccer, Broad Jump, Parachute, Bean Bag Toss, and an obstacle course. There was also a sensory station, but it wasn’t an official station in the rotation. There were around 10-20 people in each group, some people from Liberty, Cedar Lee, and then whichever elementary school you were assigned to. The little kids seemed to have so much fun, and at the end of the day, they got Little Caesars Pizza, chips, and juice!
Overall, this year’s Little Feet Meet was a ton of fun, and Liberty can’t wait to have everyone who attended this year back next year, and maybe even more schools! Liberty Champions Together sincerely thanks everyone who participated in this year’s meet! “This year’s Little Feet Meet was by far my favorite. I didn’t have a distinct buddy, but that meant I got to go around and hang out with all of the kids! I’m sad this is my last Little Feet Meet,” senior Emma Michnya stated.
