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Bryan Knight - 2007 hunt
Bryan Knight was born on September 9, 1980 in Bethel, Alaska. A year later
he moved with his parents to Kodiak Island where his brother, Kevin, and
sister, Tara, were born. His family spent much of their free time hiking,
horseback riding, tide pool exploring and fishing from their boat.
When his family made the move to Anchorage Bryan was almost 8 and ready to
try out Special Olympics. He jumped right in participating in equestrian,
bowling, alpine skiing and track and field. As he grew older he added
basketball, golf and speed skating. Bryan attended three world games;
bringing home two Gold Medals from Old Lime, Connecticut for Equestrian
in 1995, earning another Gold Medal in Speed Skating in 2001 in his home
state and in 2003 in Dublin, Ireland his Unified Basketball team won the
Bronze Medal.
While attending Service High School he helped manage the hockey and
football teams. Bryan graduated in 2000. He attended the ACE program
until he was 22 learning many skills that would help him in the future.
While in high school he began working at Value Village and is still
employed there today. When his father took a transfer to Arizona in
2002 Bryan decided he wanted to stay in Alaska with all of his friends.
He was able to get some assistance to help him attain that goal.
Since being an adult Bryan has kept very busy. He is currently a
board member on the Governor’s Council for Special Education and
Developmental Disabilities and serves on two committees. Over the
years he has attended many conferences on disabilities in the ‘lower 48’.
Bryan was a presenter in Anaheim in 2005 at the National Down Syndrome
Congress convention. As a spokesperson for Global Messengers for seven
years he spoke to different organizations on the benefits of Special
Olympics. Bryan has been interviewed on the radio as well as making
TV commercials for the 2001 World Games. He has been involved with many
local organizations including the Buddy Walk, Key Campaign, People First
and the Special Olympics School Committee. Along with his mother, Bryan
spent many Tuesday evenings serving dinner at the Brother Francis Shelter.
Bryan has a great sense of humor, is very articulate, has a high energy
level and is always ready to try something new. He especially enjoys
spending long weekends flying out to Debbie’s (care provider) ‘homestead’
to fish, swim and help in their garden. Bryan flies to Arizona about
three times a year to visit and travel with his family. He has been very
fortunate over the years to have the support from his supervisor, Mike,
at Value Village, who has always allowed Bryan to take time off to
participate in and experience new opportunities.
Slides of the 2007 hunt
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