Students eligible for special education play with typically developing peers (partners) on the same court. There are officials, scores are tallied, and in the case of volleyball, they rotate with the same regularity as you saw in the Summer Olympics in Paris. The differences are subtle but meaningful.
- Unified athletes can serve from anywhere on the court. Partners have to serve behind the service line.
- Unified athletes are given the benefit of a do-over. Partners are not afforded that same grace.
- Unified athletes (perhaps) get a little more coaching than their partners. What I noticed, though, was that our coaches ensured that when our partners were serving, they were "aiming" for the partners on the other side of the net!
The stands at EGHS were packed that evening, and those in attendance cheered for both the EGHS athletes and the Exeter-West Greenwich athletes. The loudest and most raucous sounds came from the volleys that went back and forth several times. It didn't matter who got the point, as everyone recognized the significance of the focus and concentration this took for all the athletes.
Our EGHS partner students called out the names of their unified peers when setting them for a winning shot. The celebrations when a unified athlete scored were loud and included the student's name. For both EGHS and E-WG, truly, that day, everyone was a winner.
When I was interviewing for this position two and a half years ago, there was a student panel at the high school. For the first time in my career, one of the students in the room had a visible disability. Perhaps others had an invisible one, but in all my years of interviews with students, I had never encountered an interview panel like the one here in EG. It was my first concrete example that here, "All Means All."
I was reminded recently that the word "educate" comes from the Latin root word "educere," which means to lead out. A real element of education is to ensure that our students feel safe, welcomed, and included when they come to school so they can learn to their fullest potential. Learning to one's fullest potential means making mistakes along the way. If our buildings are not safe places for mistakes, we will never draw out the unique strengths and potentials of our district's more than 2400 students.
Our Unified Sports are not about perfection. They're not about keeping score. They're certainly not about winning. They're about the greatness in each one of us. Honoring that greatness and getting better a little bit at a time.
A life lesson I was reminded of last Tuesday in the gym at 300 Avenger Drive. With thanks to Patty Carrosoto, the EGHS Unified Volleyball Team, and their counterparts from Exeter-West Greenwich. It was a special evening.
Unified Athletics is a glimpse of the best we can be.
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