Dexter High School has recently become a part of the Special Olympics Michigan Unified Champion Schools program. From their welcome packet: “Special Olympics Michigan Unified Champion Schools is a strategy for schools to become more inclusive through the power of Sport, inclusive youth leadership and school-wide awareness. Unified Champion Schools bring students with and without intellectual disabilities together to lead the Unified Champion Schools program in their school and community. Unified Champion Schools empowers youth and educators to create a place of acceptance and understanding for all students.”
Schools must meet three requirements to become a Unified Champion School: Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership, and Whole School Engagement. Dexter High School is committed to inclusion activities for all students including the SNAP club (Students Need Accepting Peers), the Peer to Peer course, weekly SNAP activities (homecoming, movies, lunches, dinners, attending school sports and drama events) the Polar Plunge (scheduled for March 15th), weight lifting, PE classes, yoga, and field trips, all of which helped DHS qualify as a Unified Champion District.
SNAP is a Dexter High School club designed to foster friendships and inclusion for Dexter’s special education students. All DHS students are welcome to join SNAP, and it is also aligned with the Peer-to-Peer elective taught by Special Education teachers Kalli Nowitzke and Kellison Kohler.
Peer-to-Peer is a one-semester peer-support class open to grades 9-12 where students act as mentors to students with disabilities and specific learning needs. A student enrolled in Peer-to-Peer (the “Link”) is a mentor, role model, and friend to a student with specific learning needs. Link students learn to relate to individuals with different needs, develop an increased understanding of individual differences, and become leaders in compassion and tolerance in their school community.
The friendships built through SNAP and the Peer-to-Peer class accomplish much toward creating a culture of acceptance and inclusion among DHS students.
“I absolutely love teaching the peer course as well as organizing the SNAP group with Kellison,” says Nowitzke. “It has been rewarding seeing the students grow socially, feel a sense of belonging, develop relationships, show empathy and feel empowered. Students are truly coming together to advocate for one another and build a more inclusive culture in our building.”
“We are incredibly proud to earn the distinction of a Special Olympics Michigan Unified Champion School,” shares DHS Principal Melanie Nowak. “At DHS, each and every student matters and belongs. We are more than just a building of many different programs. Instead, there is intentional, strategic effort to intertwine programming and allow students to interact. Mrs. Nowitzke and Mr. Kohler have done a fantastic job creating opportunities for partnerships and friendships to blossom. ”
Membership in the Special Olympics Michigan Unified Champion Schools program includes grant funding for inclusive programming, as well as a banner to be hung in the DHS cafeteria.
From their welcome packet: “Unified Champion Schools is not just a club or program within a school; it is a movement that is embraced and helps define a school.”
