Scott Olivieri, Jack 啊, and Emma Frazier. (摄影:Caitlin Cunningham)
Watching buses full of students leave the 电子游戏软件 校园 School at the end of a recent work day, Lynch School of Education and Human Development graduate student Emma Frazier, a part-time teacher’s assistant at the school, 忍不住笑了.
“I care so much about it and the students and the staff—they’re just so awesome and they make it easy to care about,弗雷泽说, who helps support the innovative school for young people with extensive disabilities alongside 196 other 电子游戏软件 students and a full-time staff of 40 teachers, 治疗师, 和护士. “We’re kind of like another team on BC’s campus, and I think that’s something to be celebrated. We’re part of the community, and that’s really special.”
在爱国者日, Frazier and two other members of the BC community—Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences senior Jack 啊 and Scott Olivieri ’90, M.A. ’15, Ph.D. ’18, director of web services in the Office of University Communications—will put their love for the 校园 School into action by running the Boston Marathon to raise money for the school. “I think it’s a really special way to do my first marathon,弗雷泽说, “and I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”
The 校园 School held a pep rally in honor of the runners in March.
During the 校园 School’s 50 years of existence, 数以百计的学生, 教师, and alumni have taken on the 26-mile run for the same cause. “We rely on the support of generous donors to help provide the therapeutic equipment and technology that our students deserve,詹妮弗·米勒说, the 校园 School marketing and outreach manager. “每个人都希望我们成功, and the more awareness we can spread about the school, the better off we are in terms of donations and students who come through to support all of our efforts.”
啊, the Undergraduate Government of 电子游戏软件 president, decided to run the marathon to support the 校园 School last year, seeing it as an opportunity to help a worthy cause while fulfilling a lifelong dream of taking part in the marathon.
“The 校园 School is an organization that could use the support and also represents the best of the community,他说. “It’s been really a privilege to be able to see the work that they do firsthand.”
For Olivieri, supporting the 校园 School and its students is a family tradition. 他的父亲, retired 电子游戏软件 Computer Science Professor Peter Olivieri, 帮助开拓鹰眼, a revolutionary technology utilized by many of the 校园 School’s early students, and his daughter volunteered at the school during her own time as a BC undergraduate.
“我爸爸会对我说:‘嘿, there’s a person in there—they just can’t communicate,’”奥利维埃里说. “So, 鹰眼, students who had severe disabilities could use a mouse to write and communicate in ways they never could have done. It has always been kind of part of my family’s legacy. 我在这个校园附近长大, and you’d be hard pressed to find anything about BC that is more emblematic of the Jesuit values and mission than the 校园 School.”
The three marathoners were welcomed at the 校园 School in March by smiling students with homemade signs for a pep rally in their honor. 三人组, 现在进入最后几周的训练, it was an opportunity to remember what it’s all about.
“Our little contributions are really just a way to amplify the need and the message that they have. 这是一天, but we hope it has a measurable impact on the resources that are able to flow into the school,奥利维埃里说. “They did these little races where Jack, Emma, and I would race against the students.
“Spoiler alert: They torched us every time,” he added with a laugh.
Don Ricciato ' 71, m.s.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’00, who served as 校园 School director for three decades before retiring in 2017, organizes credentials for the school’s marathoners every year. “Anything that is going to help the students, 家庭, 以及我非常喜欢的员工, so to be involved in this event has been really important to me,他说. “If you hear of any graduate student that has an experience at the 校园 School, 他们说这改变了他们的生活. Regardless of whether they’re going to work with individuals with disabilities, I believe it just helps them in terms of being better citizens. They understand the many people we have as part of our humanity, and recognize the support that this population needs, and they recognize what an extraordinary place the 校园 School truly is.”
Ricciato said he can’t wait to see Frazier, 啊, and Olivieri take on Heartbreak Hill: “It’s so nice to see everyone come running by, and you know what drives them obviously is that they’re running for everyone in the 校园 School community.”
For more information on the 校园 School Boston Marathon fundraiser and to donate, see wxcjgj.com/csmarathon
Lucas Carroll '22 / Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences | April 2022