Special honors for BHS unified club
WOONSOCKET — Whether they’re painting rocks or making play “slime” on any given Wednesday, it’s impossible to tell the special needs students from any others in Burrillville High School’s unified club – and that’s just the way it should be, says club advisor Charlene Walsh.
The Special Olympics thinks so, too. The organization honored BHS as a Special Olympics Unified Champion School for its commitment to unified activities at BHS, including the unified basketball and volleyball teams – an occasion that was cause for celebration Friday.
Students, town officials, police and firefighters were all on hand as BHS received its national recognition banner from the Special Olympics program.
“Rhode Island itself is a state worthy of celebrating because we’re the only state in the nation that has unified programs in every public high school in the state,” said Walsh, an English teacher at BHS. “It’s something that’s part of the culture at BHS and always has been.”
BHS is one of just six schools in the state to win the Unified Champion School banner
this year. Walsh said the others are Lincoln High School, Central Falls, North Smithfield, Cranston West High School and Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick.
BHS’s gala celebration, at Levy Rink, was coordinated mainly by three students – Allyson Graves, Mackenzie Raimond and Christian Peacock-Gallagher.
In a letter inviting town officials to the celebration, Graves, a BHS junior, declared the champion school designation “a great honor.”
“This means the Burrillville High School community has met ten standards of inclusions between our special education students and our regular education students,” she said.
One of the features of the ceremony was the display of colors by volunteer firefighters from the Harrisville Fire District – all BHS students. Aliza Richard, Jenna Deschamps – both BHS seniors, and Madison McCutcheon, a junior, carried in the U.S., Rhode Island, and Fire District flags.
“It’s good to a have a corps of young people doing this kind of work,” says Harrisville Fire Chief Mike Gingell, calling them examples to others who might not have considered the rewards of public safety and community service.
Walsh says about 50 students in all take part in BHS’s unified sports and club activities. The latter are almost entirely student-run.
“I think a lot of the students that we’ve picked up in the last few years come in with a friend and they get bitten by the bug,” she says. “They find out how much fun it is and they come back time and time again.”
In her invitation letter to yesterday’s event, Graves also reminded supporters of Special Olympics programs about another event later this month – the 6th Annual Unified Champion Schools Plunge, March 23 at Salty Brine Beach in Narragansett.
“The Special Olympics is challenging you to join us,” she said. “We are hoping to encourage some friendly competition between the fire and police to raise money for our program, as half of all funds will come back to BHS and the unified program while the other half goes to Special Olympics RI.
Participants can register for the BHS plunge team by logging on to https:// www.firstgiving.com/team/384411.