Unified they stand
North Smithfield High honored during rally by Rhode Island Special Olympics for the school’s Unified work
NORTH SMITHFIELD — The students and staff at the high school know what the phrase “people first” really means and because they do, their school has gained the attention of the Rhode Island Special Olympics organization and its national parent.
Dennis DeJesus, CEO of Special Olympics Rhode Island, visited the high school on Friday to present its students and faculty with a “National Unified Champion School” banner to join the school’s other championship banners on the walls of the gymnasium.
“It was an opportunity to congratulate North Smithfield High School and honor its success in meeting the 10 national criteria for inclusion,” DeJesus said.
North Smithfield High School is now one
of just three high schools in the state that have created Special Olympics Unified Sports programs that go beyond Rhode Island Interscholastic League – sanctioned competitive games and bring students with disabilities and without them together on many fronts.
Central Falls High School and Ponaganset High School in Glocester are the two other Rhode Island schools holding National Unified Champion School banners, DeJesus noted.
“It is a huge honor,” DeJesus said of North Smithfield’s recognition on Friday. “There are 38 Rhode Island High Schools that offer a Unified Sports program and 32 middle schools offer programs out of the 70 middle schools in the state,” he said. “Just three schools have been honored for going beyond the Unified Sports programs.”
The Rhode Island Interscholastic League offers both volleyball and basketball unified seasons typically with teams three Special Olympics athletes with two partners for basketball and matchups of three Special Olympics athletes and three partners for volleyball.
Unified basketball is just starting up for the spring season and the Special Olympics banner was presented during North Smithfield High School’s March Madness Unified Hoops Rally, attended by the entire school community and guests in the gym Friday morning.
The program included recognition of the school’s Special Olympians and their student partners as well as a morning of fun activities and competitions on the gym floor with students and staff members cheering everyone on from the stands.
Steve Boss, assistant principal at the school, said North Smithfield High School was honored to have been selected to raise the Special Olympics National Unified Champion School banner.
“I think it was incredible to see how much our faculty, our staff, and our students put into our Unified Sports program and also how they were able to pass that on and influence other members of the school community,” Boss said.
“It really was a great honor for our school,” he said.
Although other schools also participate in the Unified Sports Program, North Smithfield has also integrated its unified relationships into the social and extracurricular activities of the school, according to Christine Welch, special education department chair.
Welch, who along with fellow teacher James Fitzgerald serves as co-liaison to Rhode Island Special Olympics, said the Unified Sports program was begun in Rhode Island in 2008 and after initially serving as an opportunity for students with intellectual disabilities and their student peers to play sports, more recently the program has sought to spread support for inclusion throughout a school community.
The 10 criteria for the national recognition gained by North Smithfield High School on Friday were put into place by the school’s students, teachers and staff as part of an overall commitment to inclusion goals, she explained.
“They want kids to have more opportunities in their schools than just sports,” Welch explained.
Students with disabilities should also have an opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities and traditional school social and governmental organizations such as student council, she said.
North Smithfield High School has the buddy group program were students can match up to join after school activities and even go on social activities such as visits to the bowling alley or other fun activities. They can even work together on “acts of kindness” at their school, she said.
The school also promotes the “people first” concept by having students and staff trained in watchfulness against labeling or holding special events like the “Spread the Word to End the R-Word Day,” observances at the school.
All of those efforts lead to North Smithfield High School receiving its new banner to hang with the school’s many other banners of success in the gym.
“I’m so proud of this school,” Welch said. “It was such a group effort to support all the kids and so many people were involved, the coaches, the teacher assistants, all of the faculty, the support staff and of course the students,” she said. “I feel this generous group of players in Unified Sports is changing the way students and adults are treated throughout the community,” Welch said.