Our Capitol Hill Day Story

Karen Kerr contributed to this blog.

We prepared for Capitol Hill Day by attending Zoom webinars and preparing personal stories about Healthy Athletes, Unified Champion Schools, why we are passionate about Special Olympics and why we would like them to continuously support.

Then, on March 3-5, we flew to Washington to meet with U.S. House and Senate members from Indiana and their staff.

On the first day, we had training meetings. We discussed what to expect the following day on Capitol Hill.

The athletes then attended a breakout session to go over our speeches for the following day with our fellow athletes. We had a privilege of meeting other athletes from different states while hearing their stories.

The final activity we had that day was an athlete get-together with different types of fun activities to do, such as bracelet making with beads, a games station, a puzzle table, a coloring table and a corn hole board. It was a lot of fun getting to know the other athletes and talking with them.

The second day, we started by finalizing our stories. Then we went to Capitol Hill.

Once there, we then divided into two groups. Karen went with Jeff Mohler and their helper, Hannah, to the House side of the building.

While Charlotte, Maddie Melangton and helper Chris went to the Senate side to meet with Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Karen learned a lot from meeting with Indiana lawmakers.

“I also noticed that each of them treated me differently,” Karen said. “The majority of them were very welcoming and were eager to hear what I had to say.”

After the meeting with Senator Young, I had to walk from the Senate side to the House side. Everyone was very welcoming and listened to what I had to say.

I don’t have the experience of Unified Champion Schools, because it came two years after I graduated from high school. Still, I was able to talk about Unified sports. I also talked about Summer Games and USA Games.

I got to go under the Capitol and inside the Capitol building. I also got to experience the whispering room. It was fun.

I was able to have experiences of talking with our state representatives, and it was amazing. They complimented my leadership skills. They were very welcoming and seemed to love hearing my story.

I had my speech with me but didn’t look at it the whole time. I let it come from my heart.

We want to thank Jeff, Maddie, Chris and Hannah. It was a pleasure and an honor experiencing this wonderful journey with all of you.

Our goal was to make our lawmakers understand the importance of Special Olympics and make our fellow athletes and state proud. There is nothing Karen and I wouldn’t do for Special Olympics Indiana, and sharing our stories will continue.