Unified Sports Ready for Another Successful Year
After a successful 2022-2023 year that included a state champion and lots of fun, Unified Sports in District #7 is excited to welcome new athletes and peers for this year!
Unified Sports consists of flag football, soccer, bowling, dance, bocce, esports, basketball, and track and field. All sports are offered to high school students, and some are offered at the middle school level.
A few of Unified Sports’ highlights from last year include raising $14,000 through the Polar Plunge, Respect Week involvement from all schools within the district, each school in in the district signing up to be a Unified Champion School, hosting the IHSA Unified Basketball Sectional tournament, the creation of Unified Dance, AJ Brewster winning a state title in swimming, and the YAC Bootcamp. YAC Bootcamp is a camp where youth leaders make the trip to Wisconsin from all over Illinois to learn leadership skills, plan National Inclusive Schools Week, and take part in fun bonding experiences like bonfires, laser tag, and swimming.
Unified Sports has several new goals for this school year. First, they want to recertify EHS as a Unified Champion National Banner School. A Special Olympics Unified Champion School has an inclusive school climate and exudes a sense of collaboration, engagement, and respect for all members of the student body and staff. A Unified Champion School receiving national banner recognition is one that has demonstrated commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence. These standards were developed by a national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community. Schools need to reapply every four years.
They also hope to help establish metrics at the middle schools so they can apply to be a National Banner School at the end of next school year. Additionally, Unified Sports hopes to incorporate all Madison County high schools during the Unified Field Day. And of course, they hope to continue to grow Unified programming.
Unified Sports is recruiting now for the 2023-24 school year! They are looking for coaches, assistant coaches, students to participate as an athlete or a peer, as well as volunteers and local businesses to help with events.
If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering for or participating in Unified Sports, please contact Unified Sports Athletic Director Kayla Magruder at kmagruder@ecusd7.org. #d7proud
written by Caroline Gates, District #7 PR Intern
