By Ellyn Santiago
According to Special Olympics CT, the Unified Sports® program partners students with Intellectual Disabilities with their non-disabled peers on the same sports teams for training and competition. All participants are of similar age and ability. And Unified Art pairs the same type of groups in creating collaborative art works.
And, according to all the 100-plus athletes, artists and coaches of the Stonington schools Unified Sports and Arts Programs, it’s just plain “awesome.”
Three Stonington schools participate: Stonington High School, Mystic Middle School and Pawcatuck Middle School.
At Tuesday’s first Unified Sports Banquet, nearly 100 students received awards for their participation in the program.
"We wanted to make Special Olympics a part of what we do at Stonington High School," said Kate Careb representing Special Olympics Connecticut. "Our school community is better for this."
A buffet dinner, showcased artwork, music and speeches made for a moving night celebrating the Unified Sports and Arts Program. And for many, besides the awards presented to the athletes and artists, was the appearance by Heather Buck, the 2008 Stonington High School graduate and now UConn grad and member of UConn’s NCAA Champion Women’s basketball team. Buck ended her career as a UConn Husky last month when her team beat Louisville 93-60 to win its eighth national championship. Tuesday night, she reminded both athletes and their families to never forget that playing sports, even competitive sports should "be fun."
Unified Sports is partnered with the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS)
and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC).
The Unified Sports and Arts programs are supported by donations from Stonington businesses and individuals including the COMO, TCORS, Oyster Club, Pequot Plant Farm, the Stonington Police Department, Scientific Alloys, Dime Bank, and Merrill Lynch.
Check back with Patch Wednesday for a full list of the award winners and a photo gallery of the collaborative art created by Unified Art students.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
