Over the past couple of weeks, our Exceptional Eagles have been very busy!
In early April, members of our Exceptional Children’s Program participated in the Special Olympics, which were hosted by Rocky Mount High. This year, Lower School students went to the event on April 3, while the Middle and Upper School classes went the next day, April 4.
To show our support, a schoolwide pep rally was held on April 1, and each day of the games, RMA students lined up around our courtyard and cheered on the kids as they left. There was a banner for our students to run through at the start of the games, leading to what senior Charlie Crumley says was her favorite moment as Upper School EC student Tyler Hayes broke through the sign!
About 35 Upper School students like Charlie volunteered their time to make sure each student was where they were supposed to be at this event that hosted athletes from all over Nash County and offered competitions in the 50-meter and 100-meter run, standing long jump, and softball; the Lower School Exceptional Eagles also participated in the bean bag toss.
Unsurprisingly, our students did a great job and were proud of their accomplishments. For instance, Connor Wallace, who received three bronze medals, “was very excited for all of the events and did every event with a smile,” according to his buddy Isabella Daza (12th). Isabella also shared that her favorite part of the day was watching Connor run and hug his dad after the softball event.
Jack Alan Martin, in the Lower School EC class, received second place in the softball throw and fifth place in the 100-meter run. Multiple students in our Lower School class also received participation ribbons because every special athlete is a winner!
The very next week, the RMA EC classes performed The Wizard of Oz (Eagle Style). One performance took place on Friday, April 11 at 9 am so the whole school could watch, and another show was presented that night so that parents could attend.
The Exceptional Eagles started planning for The Wizard of Oz back in January when students returned from Christmas break. All classes–Lower, Middle, and Upper School EC–participated in both performances.
If you have seen the original movie, then you know it is a musical, so it made sense for Mrs. Whitehead to incorporate familiar songs into the play to keep the audience locked in! Connor sang “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, while Tripp sang “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts and danced to “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. Other performances equally entertained the crowd, like Kaden dancing to “Too Legit to Quit” by MC Hammer and Bryce dancing to “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice.
Our head Exceptional Children’s teacher, Mrs. Whitehead, communicated that she chose The Wizard of Oz because she “loves the message of friends working together for the good of everyone involved, helping each other to obtain the things that they needed: a heart, a brain, and courage.” She also appreciated that this story has a multitude of parts so that all of our students get a chance to shine!
The students loved getting into costume and being a different version of themselves. Grace Berry, who played the main character, Dorothy, said her favorite part of the play was when she got to say the “hilarious” line, “You need a brain and some new dance moves.”
Although the actors definitely enjoyed putting on the show, every fun thing we do here at RMA is meant to teach a lesson. One important one for these students was matching an expression with a certain line and understanding that the intonation of your voice goes a long way to express the feelings that you are trying to convey. Mrs. Whitehead believes that “there are so many learning opportunities that come with performing… like enhancing social skills and giving students a sense of pride.”
The EC Program is proud to announce that you won’t have to wait an entire year for the next play: expect a festive performance of A Charlie Brown Christmas in December, and look forward to more opportunities to see how special our Exceptional Eagles are! 
