VENTURA : Disabled or Not, Children Share a Day of Fun

They belonged to different worlds: Some were deaf, some blind, some without disabilities. On Friday, they came together to learn about each other’s universe.

Gathered on the grounds of two Ventura elementary schools, about 450 disabled and non-disabled children spent the morning together as part of a program to educate youngsters about people with disabilities.

“It works both ways,” said Pam Chasse, principal of Blanche Reynolds School. “The regular kids serve as role models for the handicapped kids. And they also find out that children with disabilities can pretty much do the same things that they do.”

Friday marked the second year Ventura Unified School District held the Handicap Awareness Day for kindergartners through fifth-graders in summer school sessions at Reynolds and Junipero Serra elementary schools.

The day’s activities began at 10 a.m. when students hit the various Disney-related games at the schools.

At Blanche Reynolds, Robert Childres, 6, threw foam tubes fiercely at a hoop hanging from a soccer goal post, while not far away Xavier Lopez, 10, aimed at hitting Pinocchio’s nose with a squirt from a bright red water gun.

Among other games were Mickey’s Musical Chair and Aladdin’s Magic Carpet, a game in which children frolicked with a multicolored fabric that looked much like a parachute.

“It’s been tiring but fun,” said Joshua Thomas, 10, after being disqualified from Mickey’s Musical Chair.

For Robyn Boyd, 8, the best part of the day was learning about children with disabilities.

“At first I did not know what to do, but after awhile I got a warm feeling about them,” Robyn said. “And I did not find them that different.”