The William S. Hart Union High School District’s special education department hosted its first ever mini rally on Wednesday with speaker Annett Davis, silver medalist from the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships and competitor on the 2000 U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team.
The rally was for the department’s extended summer year program, which helps reinforce what students have learned during the academic school year. The program wanted to introduce a theme to help structure the curriculum. Normita Meza, an administrative intern, organized the rally to tie into the program’s summer theme of the Summer Olympics.
“There’s so much that the students can benefit from curriculum-wise. There’s of course, the colors of the Olympic rings, information about countries, all the events and the sports,” said Meza.
After they decided on the theme, they decided to look for someone who could speak to students. They knew they had many local athletes to choose from in Santa Clarita and Meza happened to be friends with Davis.
“Just seeing Annett in action totally speaks to the fact that she’s about reaching out to everyone, openly accepting everything. It was such a great fit,” said Meza.
Davis said she accepted the invitation to speak because of how special Meza said it would be. Davis thought it would be a great opportunity to inspire the students and encourage them to watch the Summer Olympics starting soon.
About 200 students poured into Valencia High School’s auditorium to hear Davis talk about her life as an Olympic beach volleyball athlete.
Davis talked about how she started playing indoor volleyball when she was around 12 years old. She attended UCLA where she was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (1991) and Player of the Year (1994). Davis added that she and her teammate Jenny Johnson Jordan were the first African American team in 2000 when they competed for team USA. She now coaches at The Master’s University, in Newhall, for both indoor and beach volleyball.
At the end of the presentation, the students were able to ask Davis questions.
“It’s fun to hear what questions they come up with and what’s on their mind,” said Davis. “I didn’t want to come here and do a speech. I wanted to answer whatever they wanted to hear and what was on their hearts.”
Tisha Beydler, extended summer year teacher at Valencia High School, was very appreciative of the new event.
“I think it’s a great way for them to experience something different other than just having them be in the same routine being in the classroom,” said Beydler. “I think it’s great that they get to see someone who has accomplished so much and that they’re here out of their way to speak about their experience, especially in a profession that some of the students or even the staff inspire to be like.”
Beydler said her students seemed excited about the event, and were very attentive to the presentation and speaker. The students were happy to participate in creating their own Olympic projects featured in a gallery walk that included mini torches, Olympic rings, paper Olympic clothes, and frames.
Meza is hopeful that they will continue to organize events like this for the students after the rally’s success.
“You can totally see how these types of activities and special events help them flourish. They’re glowing as they are coming up. They want to be a part of it,” said Meza. “In real time, (we) appreciate how this is so valuable.”
