{"id":11606,"date":"2019-07-08T17:19:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T17:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=11606"},"modified":"2019-07-08T17:19:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T17:19:23","slug":"diesel-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/08\/diesel-ward\/","title":{"rendered":"DIESEL WARD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fueling life with fun<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Jesse Cole<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Diesel Ward and his dog, Cash. Photo credit: Kory Ward<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Incoming Wood River High School freshman Diesel Ward has had quite a year. As he wrapped up his middle-school career, he put it this way: It was the \u201cbest time ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward drew attention with his keynote address during the Wood River Middle School eighth-grade graduation ceremony, a speech that immediately gained local legendary status in the Valley and drew tears from the audience. When reflecting on the speech and his time at WRMS, Ward said he wasn\u2019t nervous.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody just accepted me for who I am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This was a bright spot for Ward, but both he and his parents, Billy and Kory Ward, are still very aware of the challenges that come with autism, which is a lifelong condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do stuff differently than others,\u201d Ward said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard for me, because I have autism. For me, sometimes I just need some time to think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diesel will be entering the halls of Wood River High School this fall, which will mean a new routine, a new environment, and new opportunities. Some of this can be a little daunting, but Ward is more than up to the challenge. He\u2019s looking forward to continuing classes in math and science, and he\u2019s thrilled about the opportunity to join the B-Tones\u2014an all-male singing group at WRHS. As his keynote speech demonstrated, he\u2019s quite the singer.<\/p>\n

Difficulties and benefits aside, Ward is certain of one thing: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of this change and the challenges it will pose, it is difficult to imagine Ward not brightening any environment he is in, as he drops jokes and puns on a dime.<\/p>\n

Outside of the classroom, Ward keeps himself plenty busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do Bocce ball,\u201d he said. \u201cI do Special Olympics swimming. I do Special Olympics skiing. I just like them all. That\u2019s just me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward\u2019s efforts have certainly paid off, as he has earned two Special Olympics gold medals in skiing.<\/p>\n

In addition to athletics, Ward stays intellectually stimulated. Right now he is working his way through trivia on the Presidents and Founding Fathers of the United States, memorizing everything from their birthdays to their heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really likes to pick out something that has a lot of facts involved in it,\u201d his mother, Kory Ward, said. \u201cHe\u2019s that factual kid. He likes to gather information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before starting the next stage of his education at WRHS, Ward will be filling his summer with Higher Ground Camp, a summer camp for individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities, emphasizing physical activity and social learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re stressing the life skills,\u201d Kory Ward said. \u201cThe academics will come. As he gets older, we just want him to be able to live the best Diesel life. And I think we\u2019re doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Anyone who would like to recommend a Blaine County School District student for The Weekly Sun\u2019s \u201cStudent Spotlight\u201d feature should contact The Weekly Sun at
\nnews@theweeklysun.com.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fueling life with fun By Jesse Cole Incoming Wood River High School freshman Diesel Ward has had quite a year. As he wrapped up his middle-school career, he put it this way: It was the \u201cbest time ever.\u201d Ward drew attention with his keynote address during the Wood River Middle School eighth-grade graduation ceremony, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sponsored","8":"category-student-spotlight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}