PRICES ARE RIGHT: Elizabeth Price and Liam Price; "Starting with Unified sports and becoming a Unified Champion is great!" said Liam. Elizabeth adds "The movement to make this world a more inclusive place starts with you!"
ONE WAY SCHOOLS ARE BECOMING MORE INCLUSIVE
BY RENEE DEASE
Parents dream of a school environment that encourages children's education while helping them develop into their best selves as humans. I am strongly encouraged through my work, and students like Liam Price and Elizabeth Price (no relation), that some schools are indeed addressing – and succeeding – in creating more inclusive environments through Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools®.
Unified Champion Schools (UCS) is a program for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments, utilizing three interconnected components: Special Olympics Unified Sports®, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement.
Liam and Elizabeth travel the country as Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassadors to bring awareness to the Unified Champion Schools (UCS) program and bring inclusion back to their home state of Indiana. Here's why: 97% of students reported that Unified Champion Schools had impacted their school as a whole through bringing people together, creating inclusion, raising awareness, and increasing respect. Liam and Elizabeth even took to Capitol Hill this year to help spread the word among government leaders, using their own stories as examples.
"Unified Champion Schools are creating inclusive school environments, inclusive sports teams and leadership opportunities, which has played a significant role in motivating me to create a new outlook for my future and helped me to focus more on what is possible in my life," shares Liam, who has an intellectual disability and has participated with Special Olympics Indiana for 12 years.
Liam and Elizabeth both live in Indiana. They attended different schools, but their lifelong friendship was forged through the UCS program and their selection to serve as Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassadors. "I'm so happy that I ended up enjoying working with Liam as a U.S. Youth Ambassador, making friends and seeing the true impact that I have as a Unified partner. Being an ambassador has been a really great learning experience for both of us. We've gone to meet other youth leaders from all across the country and really think of new ways to bring inclusion back to Indiana and just to be better leaders ourselves."
Elizabeth more recently joined Special Olympics when she joined a Unified gym class. She is thankful for how this choice has made such a difference in her life. She currently serves as president of her school's Unified Champions Schools committee.
"During my freshman year of high school, I finally got to experience competing for my school by doing Unified track and field, and a lot of my friends got involved with me. Since then, I've gotten more involved with Unified activities (sports and games) and grown from them. In participation in Unified Champion Schools, I have become a US Youth Ambassador with Elizabeth Price. We are best friends. She encourages me that I can do anything I can if I try hard enough. She is interested in my success."
With the current national COVID-19 crisis, Liam and Elizabeth stay connected virtually, continuing to meet weekly. "We have weekly calls with each other. Liam calls me once a week and we also text. Even when he's on vacation, his par ents send me pictures of him," shares Elizabeth. "Last week, when he was in Florida, his dad sent me some pictures of Liam fishing. We make a point to stay in touch with each other, catch up and just check in on each other."
In the 2018-2019 school year, over 7,600 schools in the U.S. participated as Unified Champion Schools, which has created over 7 million inclusive experiences for students just like Liam and Elizabeth. Liam and Elizabeth encourage everyone to practice inclusion and promote Unified Champion School activities. Find out how you can get involved by contacting your local Special Olympics Program at generationunified.org/con- tact/.
"I have a disability, but I have learned to not let my disability define my limitations or who I am," shares Liam. "Elizabeth and I hope that others will follow our steps and join in on Unified Champion activities and sports!"•
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Renee Dease is the Healthy Athlete Coordinator, Healthy Athlete-Special Olympics Initiatives