Godwin Heights — As students recently filed into North Godwin Elementary’s cafeteria, resource room teacher Julie Friel reminded them they were going to play pickleball, but that there wouldn’t be an actual pickle.
“No pickle?” asked fifth-grader Ezra Watson. “Then what are we using?”
Students were participating in the school’s Unified Champion Schools program, a Special Olympics program that promotes social inclusion by fostering interactions between students with intellectual disabilities and those without them.
Friel discovered the program after seeing social media posts from friends of their children with special needs playing basketball or running track in full uniforms with coaches and referees.
“I wondered more about how they got the student, parent and school support to pull off what seemed like a huge undertaking,” Friel said. She learned more after visiting her daughter, who teaches special education, at a high school and watched the students play a Unified basketball game.
“They had full stands, student sections that were yelling for the Unified athletes that were on court,” she recalled.
Bringing the Program to North Godwin
After connecting with Special Olympics about the Unified Champion Schools program, North Godwin kicked off the program this winter. It runs every Friday afternoon from 1:30-2:15 p.m.
Since the program began halfway through the year, students are getting the opportunity to try different sports, said autism spectrum disorder teacher Amber VandenBosch, who co-leads North’s Unified program with Friel.
North students have so far tried volleyball, hockey, football, wiffle ball, kickball, soccer and basketball. AmeriCorps volunteers lead the program.
The students start with warm-up activities, followed by instruction in the sport and practice time.
“I liked basketball best,” Ezra said as he pretended to dribble a ball.
His buddy in the program, third-grader Jose Godoy, said his favorite was football, because he likes to tackle. Friel pointed out that there was no tackling during their exploration of the game, however.
“I’ve played it at home, but never organized before,” Jose said, adding that it was fun to learn the rules and that he hopes they will play football next year.
The goal, VandenBosch said, is that students develop an understanding of how various sports are played, acquire new skills and be able to take part in organized games.
Expanding the Outreach
Because it provides a level playing field to everyone, the Unified program has given North students an opportunity to build friendships and feel more included in the school, she said.
“Just recently I had a gen-ed student come to my classroom, and immediately said hello to a special education student I was working with,” Friel said. “I asked how they knew each other, and it was because they play with each other every Friday.”
Organizers are looking at ways they can include more students and expand the program to the middle and high schools, she said. At the high-school level, students have the opportunity to play other schools that have a Unified Champion Schools program.
Inclusive sports is only one part of the Unified program, Friel said. There are also inclusive leadership opportunities and whole-school engagement, such as hosting an inclusive spirit week, that North hopes to add in the future.
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