Local youth and members of Hillsdale’s special needs community enjoyed games and sports at GOAL’s annual field day Sept. 24 at Hayden Park.

“The field day is a fun time of hanging out with kids in the community,”  GOAL Coordinator and junior Mary Ann Powers said. “It’s open to the local youth and the special needs community.” 

At the start of field day, volunteers and attendees split into two teams. One team completed relays, like racing while balancing a raw egg on a spoon, while the other team played kickball. 

After each team completed their activities, the teams switched. Toward the end of the event, both teams met at the sand volleyball pit for a game before eating lunch together.

Sophomore Ruth Kirsch, who volunteered at the event and is the leader of the Community Action Agency Preschool GOAL program, said she feels a strong connection to the program and reaching out to the community.

“I’m from Hillsdale and the community here has a special place in my heart,” Kirsch said. “I wasn’t doing anything else this Saturday, so I thought, ‘Why not spend it with my college friends and with kids from the community?’”

GOAL stands for Great Opportunities for Assistance and Leadership. 

“Hillsdale’s GOAL program creates opportunities for students to know, love, and serve the members of our surrounding community,” GOAL Director and senior Lucy Cuneo said.

Throughout the event, GOAL leaders took polaroid pictures. Cuneo said it was important that attendees could take something home to remind them of the field day. Each attendee also received a participation certificate. 

“Students at Hillsdale get to read Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, and other great thinkers on how to be a virtuous person and how to live a good life,” Cuneo said. “But one thing I’ve noticed after reading Cicero’s ‘On Duties’ is that he encourages his son and all of his readers, not just to intellectualize and think grand thoughts in the ivory tower about the good but to actually go out and do something. One of the best ways to learn is by doing what one loves while serving others.”

Cuneo encouraged Hillsdale students to participate in future GOAL events. 

“There’s really something for everyone,” she said. “There are lots of ways to serve Hillsdale because there is so much need.”