Julie Billiart SPACE DAY

Anyone with kids or knows a teacher understands the end of the school year is a chance to relax and have a little fun before summer recess.  Julie Billiart School decided to have a “space” theme for this year’s play day, and invited Great Lakes Base and Ohio Garrison to help participate in some of the activities.

Julie Billiart School, in Lyndhurst, Ohio, is an alternative K-8 catholic school, which works with children who have special learning needs. In a way, this school is kind of like the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters from the “X-Men” comics.  As I learned from one of the instructors, the school itself was is housed in a converted mansion. Which today makes these kids X-Wing-Men? (sorry, Rebel Pilot humor)

As it turned out, this was a homecoming of sorts for Fuzzball; who used to attend this school.  Our Jedi alumni supervised the “Yoda Yoga” lesson and other Jedi-themed games the kids were playing.  Meanwhile, I was trained future starfighter pilots before they navigated wheelchairs, dressed up like X-Wings.  The kids would pair up (one steers while the other toss bean bags at targets) while a few teachers and I would shower “asteroids” (balls of paper) as their X-Wings passed by. Meanwhile, our Stormtrooper escorted the groups of students to their respective stages.  At his station, the children would work on their accuracy (ironic, don’t ya think?) by throwing either a 'grenade', a rocket, or using a miniature golf club to swing a ball at a target.  Upon completing all three stations, each 'Jedi Academy student' was given a certificate of achievement.

Many of the kids were even dressed in their Star Wars halloween costumes, and even the ones who didn’t know much about Star Wars were having FUN with all the space-themed games.

It’s tough finding members from volunteer fan groups, who are available for an event request in the middle of a weekday. Yet even a small crew of dedicated individuals can bring smiles to kids faces… and at the heart of it all “it’s what we do!”