Since I was young, I have admired the idea of including kids with special needs in activities within their community. In eighth grade I completed a month-long Civics Action Project in hopes of creating a welcoming environment in schools for students with disabilities, and now I work three days a week after school with elementary school kids with disabilities.
Over the course of the last few years at WA, the club Best Buddies has grown in popularity, an increase of WA students have volunteered to participate in an Adaptive PE class, and most recently, WA has incorporated Unified Track and Unified Basketball onto the list of athletics.
With all of the opportunities to bring together WA students with and without special needs, WA students should continue to involve themselves in these activities to create a more inclusive and welcoming student body.
Getting involved with special needs students in your high school benefits more than just them and yourself. According to the Los Angeles Unified School District, integration of students with and without disabilities can expand and enhance the personal experiences of children, parents, and teachers in schools. The merging of these students allows everyone to feel welcomed in their school setting, and creates active members of the community.
This semester, I have had the opportunity to participate in Adaptive PE. The class is led by Physical Education teacher Scott Brown, and occurs during the last 26 minutes of long block a few days every week. Throughout this block, WA students who have volunteered to be a part of the adaptive gym class go to the gym or outside to the football field and play games with WA students with disabilities.
For the last 2 months I have been able to build relationships with the students in the adaptive class, creating a positive environment and new friendships that extend beyond the classroom. For some of these students, playing sports and doing other physical activities can be overstimulating. However, throughout the course of the last few weeks the students with special needs have felt more comfortable around their peers.
“Adaptive PE has been an amazing experience, and has helped me grow as a person, by meeting people and learning new games,” sophomore Maria Reuther said. “It has helped me make so many amazing friends, and it is important for people with disabilities to get the same opportunities in Physical Education classes.”
Additionally, spending time with students with disabilities has been a part of my week I look forward to the most. This short period of time is a small act of kindness any WA student could show by being a member of the adaptive gym class.
As I have built more of a relationship with these students, activities have become more interactive, and conversations have become easier to conduct. Many of the conversations I have with the students revolve around the other activities they participate in through school, the most popular one as of recently being Unified Basketball.
Unified Basketball is a new program that WA has added to their list of extracurriculars which brings together students with and without disabilities to play as a team. Seniors Laney Mach, and Leah Bordenca manage this team and have dedicated this fall to practicing with this team and building their confidence to result in successful gameplay.
The Unified Basketball team has played 3 games this season and at both of the home games, a large group of the student body came to support them. WA students filling the student section, cheering throughout the game and supporting the players with special needs created a heartwarming sense of community.
“Attending these events enriches the school culture and contributes to personal growth for all students involved,” Mach said.
Head coach of the Unified Basketball team, Joe Van Gelder has contributed to the team’s success as he is on the sidelines for the students and has helped advertise the teams game schedule.
“I think it’s just as important for WA students to support and attend these Unified games like they do all other Varsity WA home games,” Van Gelder said. “Our athletes practice and work very hard to perform and deserve the same attention and support as all the other teams here.”
The two home Unified Basketball games were played at 3:00 which is a difficult time for many WA students to attend a game. During this time of year, student-athletes who participate in fall sports have practices or games every day of the week, normally beginning right after the school day. This makes it difficult to attend events like this when there are other conflicts such as practices or after school jobs. However, many teams and coaches have shortened or altered practices to make time to cheer at Unified games.
“While Unified Basketball slightly changed our practice schedule, the whole volleyball team would give up the gym any afternoon in a heartbeat because of all of the smiles Unified Basketball brings to WA,” junior Kaitlyn Pepin said.
Being a part of an activity whether it is a club, Unified sports team, or an adaptive gym class, WA students should incorporate themselves into one of these programs involving themselves with their peers with special needs.
