Volunteers are the backbone of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Without our volunteers, we’d never be able to provide competition, leadership, health and so many other opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to Conroy Education Center paraprofessionals Kim Klinger & Heather Caito from the Three Rivers Region for being named our Volunteer of the Month for March 2025!
Kim Klinger’s Conroy journey began in 2005, while Heather Caito’s story kicked off in 2012. Since their time together, the duo witnessed the community and inclusive space Conroy provided for students in their classrooms. When Kim and Heather saw the impact Special Olympics started to make, it wasn’t long before they joined forces with the Phys. Ed. department. The minute Conroy’s traditional and Unified teams started to grow; Kim and Heather acquired a new title: Team Managers.
Now, let’s go back to March 2025. The Conroy Blue Jays earned the opportunity to compete in the Music City Blitz Invitational alongside Special Olympics Tennessee. It was a lifechanging opportunity for every single Conroy athlete that stepped foot onto Nissan Stadium’s field.
It took many moving parts to make this trip happen. Before Conroy traveled down to the invitational, Kim and Heather volunteered to drive athlete Damien Miller to Nashville after he was unable to fly with his teammates. Damien had almost perfect attendance for the two months leading up to Nashville and worked very hard to do so. When team leaders realized he may not be able to make the event after all of his hard work, Kim and Heather stepped up without hesitation to ensure he would be able to join his team and friends.
And the rest is history. Kim and Heather, thank you for your limitless passion. Your willingness to give and provide does not go unnoticed. Thank you for being part of the Special Olympics Pennsylvania community.
Enjoy learning more about Kim and Heather’s Conroy experience, their trip to Nashville, and what this program has meant to their school community.
Kim: “They call us the Team Managers. Pretty much jack of all trades. Laundry, uniforms, food, snacks, organizing kids, things like that.”
Heather: “I’m the photographer for the team; we do all their equipment. We get them all together. We’re like the Team Moms.”
Kim: “We’ve had Special Olympics here before from a prior Phys. Ed. teacher and did it in small amounts… Then, when Eric Spielman came, he added more and different teams. We were always helping out then, doing the little and minor things. But now, with Eric, because he has so many teams with Special Olympics Pennsylvania, traditional and Unified, it takes a whole village. Not just us, but it takes many other people to help out.”
Heather: “Most of the kids that are on the teams are in my program at school, so I am with these kids every day. I love seeing them on a team. It makes my heart melt when they’re all together and cheering each other on. It’s so nice to see. You can see that their self-confidence is rising. They’re blossoming right in front of your eyes and it’s just so cool to watch because these kids have never had an opportunity ever like this.”
Kim: “We’ve seen a lot of introverts who’ve gotten involved with the team. We’ve seen them blossom and actually speak up as opposed to talking with their head down, hoodie on. They’re opening up and it’s like they’re just a big family. That’s what we feel like this school is. But the kids feel that too. They check in with each other. You know, ‘How was your race?’ Just to see that openness… Not only in sports but talking to others.
When we were down in Tennessee, they were talking to the other teams they were playing against, Mike was down there and got his picture with the cheerleaders. That’s what we want. We want you to go out and broaden your horizons. That’s what Special Olympics has done for them. They really want to succeed and want to compete and want to win. This [attitude] has followed them into their academics. Anything we ask of them here; you see them stepping forward. We’re hoping to bring more and more into the program.”
Heather: “When we heard Damien couldn’t take the plane, I said, ‘I’ll drive him if I have to.’ He deserved to go. He’s such a good athlete and he 110% deserved to go. It was a no-brainer to drive him. He’s going and we’re taking him.”
Kim: “Heather asked me, ‘If Damien’s mom says yes, do you mind driving to Tennessee?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, why not?’ Without hesitation. It’s what we do. That’s just our makeup… The drive down was amazing and so much fun. Our favorite part was the Buc-ee’s… It was just a lot of fun. The joking, the laughing, it was just natural.”
Heather: “Our other highlight was beeping the horn every time we went into a new state… Damien’s never really been out of Pittsburgh… I’ve never been to a Unified tournament like this before. The competition overall made me tear up. Just walking out and seeing all of the athletes, not just Conroy, was amazing. Everybody was just so kind and to see our kids in a major NFL stadium was breathtaking. The kids were so excited, I was so excited.”
Kim: “They were so pumped up. They have pride when they put on their uniforms. We were one of the first teams there and they were down on the field just looking around. You could see there were a little nerves, but definitely excited once they settled in… Watching all the teams get called out and run on the field, I mean, how could you not get filled with pride? Special Olympics did a fabulous job and stepped up and just kept wowing me. It was the little bits on top of this already awesome event.”
Heather: “I didn’t think it could get any better, and then they come back from the combine with giftbags that had Fitbits in them. You don’t understand, our kids don’t have things like that. They get these Fitbits and they’re like, ‘Ms. Heather, can you put this on me?’ You know what I did over Easter break? I bought two Fitbit chargers so they could charge them at school.”
Kim: “Our kids get this experience and that comes from opportunities that Special Olympics provides and the hard work that Eric and John and Alvis and everybody put in.”
Kim: “Volunteering is the feeling you get inside you. I think more people should do it. Start your kids young, volunteering and helping out… I just think there should be more kindness in the world and volunteering is an act you can do. It’s selfless.”
Heather: “The reward you get back from it is priceless… Special Olympics Pennsylvania will change your life. Please come and volunteer. You only have to do it once, but once you do it one time, you’re coming back for more.”
Kim: “Conroy is a special place and we’re very supportive of each other and our teams… I always want to see more.”
Here’s what Coach Eric Spielman had to say about volunteers Kim and Heather!
“Kim and Heather definitely went above and beyond for Damien, but they also do this on a daily basis for the athletes and students of Conroy. I am able to have so many teams here and have them be successful because of all of the work behind the scenes and Kim and Heather are always at the forefront of that. I think they absolutely deserve recognition even though neither of them would ever ask for it.”
