2005 Global Youth Summit Special Olympics believes that young people should be given the opportunity to make an immediate difference in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Youth Summits enable young people to talk openly about their needs and expectations, and offer them the opportunity to share ways to eradicate stereotypes and spread the message of Special Olympics to more people. The Special Olympics Schools & Youth initiative is committed to increasing the participation of youth without intellectual disabilities in Special Olympics activities by establishing school-based Special Olympics Programs and activities, such as Special Olympics Get Into It (SO Get Into It™, a free service-learning curriculum celebrating diversity) and local, national, regional and global Youth Summits. Global Youth Summits are held in conjunction with the Special Olympics World Games every two years. The inaugural Global Youth Summit was held in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, during the 2001 Special Olympics Winter World Winter Games. During the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, 28 young people and 14 adult chaperones participated in the 2005 Global Youth Summit over the course of the entire Games. Representing every region in the Special Olympics movement, participants consist of a pair of students — one Special Olympics athlete and one typical peer — from a middle/intermediate school or high/secondary school (ages 12-17). Each student pair was chaperoned by a Program-approved adult. Participants in the 2005 Global Youth Summit focused on four important tasks: Share their ideas with Special Olympics about ways to reverse stereotypical attitudes about people with disabilities; Report on the athletes who are competing at the 2005 World Winter Games and transmit these stories back to their schools and communities electronically; Discuss ways that organizers of Special Olympics can meet the needs of today's athletes, volunteers, coaches and family members; and Upon returning to their nations, expand on the opportunities for youth to become involved with Special Olympics in the school and community. At the Summit, each team of athlete and peer learned the basics of reporting and photo journalism, after which they reported on World Games activities, publishing their stories daily on the Special Olympics Web site as well as the official 2005 World Games Web site. Summit participants also met with more than 300 local Nagano school youth who have been taking part in the World Games School Enrichment Program. In addition, a global audience of school children and youth were able to interact with the Summit participants through live, real-time Webinars conducted several time during the World Games. Through this innovative technology forum they shared experiences from host schools about how "changing attitudes — changing the world" is taking place on a local basis. Beyond the 2005 World Winter Games, participants will serve Special Olympics as the Global Youth Advisory Council for approximately two years until the 2007 World Summer Games. The Advisory Council will present at conferences/workshops, participate in e-mail and conference call updates, provide progress reports, write stories for the "Get Into It Gazette" online newsletter, develop ideas for the Special Olympics Web site, and more. For more information, contact Ron Vederman, Ed.D. Special Olympics Director of Athlete Recruitment, School and Youth Outreach +1 (202) 824-0275 +1 (202) 824-0200 (Fax) rvederman@specialolympics.org 2005 Special Olympics Global Youth Summit Participants Nicoleta Florentina Stan, Athlete, Special Olympics Romania Andreea Tincea, Partner Emilia Serbanica, Chaperone Albin Verzonik, Athlete, Special Olympics Austria Vinzenz Haertel, Partner Heinz Tippl, Chaperone Miguel Moran, Athlete, Special Olympics Sonsonate (El Salvador) Toribio Solis, Partner Salvador Rivas, Chaperone Julio Cesar Barrera, Athlete, Special Olympics Panama Harold Perez, Partner Miguel Niño, Chaperone Meng-Hsuan Chou, Athlete, Special Olympics Taiwan Melody Mee-Lin Kwok, Partner Shu-Yuan Wang, Chaperone Meili Qiao, Athlete, Special Olympics China Yen Ding, Partner Jiahuan Cai, Chaperone Cindy Carstens, Athlete, Special Olympics Namibia Ngawa Mumba, Partner, Tanzania Rafael Aluteni, Chaperone, Namibia Thabiso Samuel Selepe, Athlete, Special Olympics South Africa Mathew van Eeden, Partner Olompia Hlatywayo, Chaperone Ibrahim Squali Houssaini, Athlete, Special Olympics Morocco Fikri Ikari, Partner Said Zay, Chaperone Hamad Ali, Athlete, Special Olympics Bahrain Hashem Abdulla, Partner Adel Mohammed Hassan, Chaperone Kartika (Noni) Tjan, Athlete, Special Olympics Indonesia Umaya Indra, Partner Tania Avi, Chaperone Denise Moncibas, Athlete, Special Olympics Mexico Christina Due, Partner Lourdes Rosas, Chaperone Vishnu Sirnivasan, Special Olympics Bharat (India) Chitra Ronald, Partner Vijay Kant, Chaperone Krystal Torres, Special Olympics Nevada (USA) Lee Tyrell, Partner Peanuts Boyer, Chaperone