The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
NOT JUST A GAME
PROJECT UNIFY STRIVES TO PROMOTE RESPECT FOR ALL STUDENTS
Event, started by student, aims to foster friendships and celebrate differences
An all-star basketball team of Madison High School students with special needs gave its fans plenty to cheer about during the squad’s annual game against faculty members on Feb. 20.
When the final buzzer sounded, the student team emerged victorious, with a 40-38 triumph over the faculty.
The game took place during the seventh annual Project Unify assembly held in the Madison
High School gym.
While the game itself was fun, the players, students in the stands, Madison High faculty and district administrators also enjoyed the spirit of togetherness that is created through the Project Unify program.
“Project Unify is just this incredible, incredible community event that students, staff and parents are energized by,” said Madison Schools Superintendent Angela Smith. “And it’s become a part of the fabric of Madison High School.”
“Project Unify is just this incredible, incredible community event that students, staff and parents are energized by. And it’s become a part of the fabric of Madison High School.” — Madison Schools Superintendent Angela Smith
The school program partners students who have special needs with varsity athletes to compete in “varsity style” sporting events, according to the program’s Facebook page.
“The students with special needs are the stars of the game and have the opportunity to feel the excitement, cheers and support of their peers,” the Facebook post states.
Although a basketball game is the centerpiece of the annual event, Project Unify strives to achieve the higher ideals of promoting “inclusion and respect for all students to foster friendships and celebrate differences,” the Facebook page added.
Project Unify was launched in 2014 by Haley Azbill — then a senior at the high school — who sought to create an event to connect students with special needs and the peers whom they otherwise don’t see in classes or during other parts of the school day.
“Every year, there’s a (student) chairperson who runs the event,” Smith said. “Haley continues to pick through an application process who the students are.”
This year, junior Caitlin Barnicoat served as Project Unify coordinator.
During a pre-game ceremony, Caitlin stood at center court and told the crowd that her role as Project Unify coordinator was one of the most exciting experiences of her life.
Caitlin said she especially enjoyed getting to know and work with the students with special needs who were playing in the Feb. 20 basketball game.
She described those students as “the greatest and funniest kids” she has ever met and said they never failed to make her smile.
Many of the spectators in Madison High’s gymnasium were wearing the same blue Project Unify 2020 T-shirts as the players on the court.
Some of the fans in the bleachers also brought signs bearing the first names of students with special needs who played in the game.
In addition, all of the student players received more recognition after the contest when they were presented with medals.
While Azbill — who attended the Feb. 20 game — continues to select the Project Unify student coordinator each academic year, her family also established a scholarship inspired by the program.
The Project Unify MHS Scholarship made its debut in 2018. Scholarships are awarded annually to either one or two students “who most strongly represent the spirit of Project Unify every day in the halls and classrooms of Madison High School,” a Facebook post noted.
Recipients of the Project Unify MHS Scholarship are announced at Madison High School’s Senior Awards Banquet in May.