SANTA ANA : Youngsters Get to Go for the Gold

A light breeze coming from the wrong direction didn’t keep Guadalupe Sanchez from taking the Olympic silver medal in the yacht race Friday, a victory the 6-year-old navigator called “easy.”

Never mind that the games were held in Santa Ana, not Barcelona, and the “yacht” floated in a shallow wading pool and was powered by Guadalupe blowing on the tiny plastic boat. To 150 kindergartners from Madison Elementary, Friday’s version of the Olympics could have been the real thing.

The five participating classes kicked off the Madison Mini Olympics with their own version of the opening ceremonies, complete with recorded music and red, white and blue balloons.

Wearing commemorative ribbons in the school color of burgundy and donning hot pink caps printed with the motto “I’m a Winning Kid,” the youngsters marched proudly past first- through fifth-graders who came out of their classrooms to applaud and cheer the parading athletes. Beside the kindergartners walked their teachers and classroom volunteers, looking very much like coaches with timers hanging around their necks.

At the head of the long line walked the torch holder, his construction paper flames held high above his head. Other classmates carried flags or placards identifying each classroom by teacher name and displaying the five-ring Olympic logo in colorful tissue paper.

Ten teams competed in 10 different events, such as the basketball throw, the long jump, the Frisbee toss and the Hula Hoop endurance competitions. “We basically looked at a list of the official Olympic events and reduced them to their size,” said teacher and organizer Judy Freedman.

The mini-games resulted from the teachers’ desire to better explain the Olympics to the youngsters, as well as provide them an outlet for physical activity and bolster self-esteem.

“We decided these kids needed some cultural exposure to the Olympics and this is an active way for them to learn about it,” said teacher Linda Morningstar, who was busy keeping time statistics throughout the contests.

About 85% of the students attending Madison Elementary are Latino, according to Assistant Principal Robert McDonald, and most start out in limited English classes before moving on to classes taught in both languages. McDonald, who served as master of ceremonies, made all of his announcements in Spanish and English, as did the teachers and aides.

Children who did not compete instead served as cheering squads for their teams. Nary a boo or a negative cry came from the supportive bunch of children. Among the spectators were more than two dozen parents armed with cameras.

“This is a great diversion for the kids,” said Hector Giron, who came to see his daughter, Cynthia, compete. “It helps them with exercise and with (building) confidence. I hope they do more events like this.”

The two-hour games ended with the awards ceremony, during which 30 bronze, silver and gold-colored plastic medallions were presented to the champions in each event.

But for Christian Botello, winning the gold in the obstacle course was not the only highlight of the day. The 5-year-old said in a combination of Spanish and English that he liked jumping over the cardboard hurdles and cheering loudly for the other kids. After a pause, he finally added, “It was all good.”