Buckeye kicks off second year of its Unified Champion Schools program

YORK TWP. — Buckeye High School students launched the second year of the district's Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program with games and activities meant to bring students with and without disabilities together. Unified Champion Schools aims to create an inclusive school environment for students with and without disabilities through unified sports, inclusive youth leadership and whole school engagement. Rachel Supan is a teacher at the intermediate school and runs the program at Buckeye. Student athletes at the high school can connect with students with disabilities by practicing and playing sports like basketball and football, she said. Interested students go through an application process to become a student leader. "We had so many more students choose to do that this year, so I think it's been a wonderful success," Supan said. Unified Champion Schools is important because sports help teach students skills they can use in everyday life, she said. It also gives students with disabilities an avenue to take part in sports when they might not do so otherwise. "They have the right to have the same opportunities as anyone else that attends school, including sports," Supan said. It is phenomenal to see the amount of encouragement students give to one another, she said. "When you're at a game, and you see one of the students score, the amount of support that they're showing by jumping up and hugging them, high-fiving them, just makes the students feel so good," Supan said. "It's an amazing program." At the tailgate to kick off this year's program on Friday, students could sign a pledge to be inclusive of others. Students who signed the pledge were entered into a raffle to earn prizes like gift cards. "I hope that everyone signs the pledge to show that our entire school district, not just my unified leaders, but the entire student body here at the high school, supports our program and what we're doing," Supan said. "Even if you might not necessarily be able to be a leader, you're still showing support for the program. You're showing support for students and giving them the same opportunities as everybody else." Buckeye will host a Unified Champion Schools basketball game in February, and multiple other schools from Northeast Ohio will participate in it, she said. Buckeye students will also play in other basketball games at different schools throughout the season. "I wish that everybody could see the students' faces light up when they receive so much support at the games," Supan said. "It makes all the difference for them." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.