PITTSBURG, Kans. — The Plaster Center at Pitt State is filled with people Thursday enjoying the annual TR-iffic Day of Play.
“It’s like a good event to help for people with special needs,” said Michael Crites.
“I just have a lot of fun meeting different people,” said Donna Colier.
The TR-iffic event in Pittsburg is designed for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to have a fun, engaging time. Over 200 participants of all ability levels rotated among 12 stations with activities, like bowling, a bucket toss, and even bingo. The theme this semester is “Dino-riffic” and all ages were welcomed from pre-school to adults.
“I think it’s really important for a local college to be able to get the kids together from all the different schools. So we’ve got schools from Columbus, Girard – there’s some kids from Uniontown here. So it’s nice for all of the local schools to get together,” said Amber Kloster.
“Their various ability levels have been taken in mind when designing these opportunities. And so it’s just a chance for them to come together and have a good day and do something different that they might not normally do,” said Dr. Laura Covert-Miller.
“A lot of these individuals sometimes feel like they can’t be included in certain activities. So today is just a day for them to enjoy every activity and not have to worry about whether or not they can be included,” said Zoey Harvey.
The field day is held twice a year, once in the spring, and once in the fall— organized and run by Pitt State students in the therapeutic recreation program.
“This event has been running for at least five years. And to see it grow, and to see the students enjoying it as much as the participants and what the students learn from these opportunities you can’t buy, you can’t put a number on it. So that makes it really worthwhile to me,” said Dr. Miller.
“All the hard work you put in is doing something good because all these individuals are having fun. They’re making memories and they get to enjoy all the activities,” said Harvey.
