Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

A student at Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School, who's also a resident of Shelburne, has qualified for the 2025 Special Olympics Ontario School Championships to be held in Ottawa from June 2 to 5.

Grade 12 student Yazmine Wilson-Dupont, a Special Olympics athlete, will represent her school at the event, featuring athletes from across the province.

The Special Olympics Ontario School Championships is hosted by the Ottawa Police Service. Throughout the 2024/25 academic year, more than 10,000 high school athletes competed for the honour of representing their school and community. The School Championships promote inclusion, leadership, and school engagement through sport.

As a Special Olympics athlete, Yazmine specializes in track and field events including the 100-meter, 200-meter, shotput, and standing long jump.

This is Yazmine's fourth time at the Special Olympics.

Yazmine's mom, Karrie Daponte, is also her coach and will attend the event to help Yazmine perform at her best level against participants from around the province.

The police are very involved in Special Olympics around the province and have a strong presence at the School Championships as hosts. Police officers help the athletes and cheer them on.

The opening ceremony is a grand event with pipers and the singing of the national anthem.

“It's a very emotional event,” Karrie said. “It's quite an experience to see all these athletes during this opening ceremony.”

The Special Olympics School Championships feature track and field events, as well as basketball, bocce, soccer, and floorball.

The events will place at various venues around Ottawa.