Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
“And the winner is …”
Drum roll
“… the blue team, 'Team USA!' ” announced Lope Shop Manager Garrett Miller at the conclusion of Grand Canyon University’s first LOPES Academy Alumni Summer Olympics.
The Phoenix heat was blazing Thursday morning but that did not stop 16 LOPES Academy alumni to return to campus for an event full of competitive, high-energy games and a reunion with fellow Lopes.
“We like to have them come back to campus as a group because it helps with their social skills and making friends,” said Dr. Heidi Boldway, assistant dean of College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Director of LOPES Academy. “It is helpful for them and their development as they mature to have friends their own age, so this gives them an opportunity to meet and connect.”
The event featured versatile team games that started out light with a fun water balloon toss on the grass field in front of GCU’s baseball field and followed with the “Human Knot," “Head, Shoulders, Knees, Cone” and an intense relay race inside the Lopes Performance Center.
Divided in three groups -- the blue team, “Team USA,” the red team, “Red Rangers” and the green team, “Shamrock the House” -- teamwork was most tested in the final relay race that required them to work through several obstacles.
Starting out in respective single file lines and arms on the shoulders of the person in front of them, they had to pass a hula hoop from the first person to the last by alternating over the shoulders and under the feet actions. When the hula hoop reached the last person, first in line raced across the gym to pick up a purple t-shirt and quickly put it on before shooting a basket.
Next competitor had to stack plastic cups in pyramid style, and the final kicker was putting together a puzzle that pictured university's mascot, Thunder.
“I used to do this back in school and I always found it fun as a kid. So, I thought this would be a good way for all of us to get put onto teams and work together,” Kristina Lang, LOPES Academy alumni specialist, said.
“It was amazing seeing everyone come back. When we were in LOPES, it was only two cohorts together, but now there are a bunch of different ones and it was so nice seeing everybody reconnect as a big group.”
Lang was the mastermind behind the first annual event. Having gone through the program, she experienced and understood the meaningful community and the importance of continuing it.
Introduced in 2021, the two-year program offers an immersive college experience through academic, professional and social opportunities for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities.
They are enrolled in courses, participate in internships and attend various campus activities when matched with GCU students as their peer mentors. They show them all the Lope land staples, including going to basketball games and Chapel, hanging out at the Student Union, walking around Lopes Way and more.
It is a chance for them to have a memorable and interactive higher education experience that will shape their futures. The academy touts 42 alums that have completed the program as of spring 2026.
“Sometimes it’s hard to socialize after you exit a program you’ve committed two years to,” Courtney Patton, LOPES Academy program manager, said. “I thought this event was a perfect way for continuing graduating cohorts to get to know one another, have a community and a reason to come back to campus and something they can look forward to every summer.”
Added alumnus Davis Ketchum, “some of the activities were a little frustrating to me, but I stayed with it and coped with it and it was probably one of the greatest times I’ve ever had.”
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at [email protected]
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