FIVE students from Wangaratta District Specialist School will be competing in the All Schools Championships from December 6 to December 8 for the first time in the school’s history. The students who have qualified for the national championships in Brisbane are Dylan Vescio, Lara Pearson, Mia Godwin, Harry White and Victoria Waddel-Laing. The team is led by their teacher Rowan Barrow, who has coordinated many similar athletics trips for regional students in the past. “I’m really lucky I’ve had exposure to this my entire life but it’s something new for the kids, some of them have never been on a plane trip before,” she said. To help them get to Brisbane and cover all the expenses that come with competing, three of the students have started a GoFundMe. Ms Barrow encourages the community to donate to the GoFundMe’s to help these talent students have a once in a lifetime experience. “It’s a great way to give our country kids a go and their kids with disabilities,” she said. “There’s so much raw talent and being able to tap into that and give the kids opportunities to use those talents in sports they may have never tried before is really exciting.” Dylan is one of the students who is trying the track events for the first time and his mum, Shannyn Vescio, said even being qualified for the championships was a special achievement for him. “Dylan is a kid that is pretty quiet and hangs back and doesn’t like a lot of attention, and has always been told he can’t do things,” she said. “This is something that he is excelling at, and this is something we want to show him that he can do it, and he can achieve things, and he can dream. “We want him to just give it a go and experience it regardless of where he places just so he knows he’s just as amazing as anybody else.” Ms Barrow said the championships are a great pathway to bigger achievements for para-athletes and that she is grateful for support the community has shown, including local athlete Bella Pasqauli, who had a training session with the students. “I’d like to thank the community for believing in the kids and being so generous with understanding and giving our students an opportunity to achieve,” she said. If you would like to donate to Dylan, Lara or Victoria’s GoFundMe’s visit https://gofund.me/2eb75f13, https://gofund.me/2eb75f13 or https://gofund.me/b815cc19.
