For many students, high school is not only a time to learn, but also a time to make friends, play sports and participate in extracurricular activities.

Unfortunately, sometimes students with disabilities feel excluded or separated from these important rites of passage. In the last several years, Belleville High School has committed to ensuring all students have access to these opportunities by expanding its selection of Unified programs.

Unified activities, which are supported by Special Olympics of Michigan, bring together students with and without disabilities to learn, build friendships, play sports, and so much more. The ultimate goal is to ensure inclusion for all, making BHS a place where every student feels welcome, accepted and involved.

For the first time, BHS is offering a Unified Peer to Peer class every hour of the school day. In this class, general education peers have weekly lessons and journals to learn more about disabilities and then spend time paired up with a student or a classroom of students with disabilities. Their role is to be a friend, supporter and positive presence while gaining valuable skills such as empathy, communication and leadership.

Every Monday, the first-hour peers also participate in Monday Funday, which brings them together with several special education classrooms to work on collaboration, communication and social skills.

In addition to Peer to Peer, BHS offers Unified Physical Education, Unified Art and new this year, Unified Horticulture.

Unified classes modify instructional methods and content to meet the needs of all students so that general education and special education students can learn side by side. Some of the students’ favorite P.E. lessons so far are balloon balance, line dancing and yoga. And in horticulture, the students planted seeds and watched them grow throughout the semester. They loved eating carrots they grew themselves and painting pots for the plants.

There are many Unified activities for students outside of the school day as well. Throughout October and November, many students participated in Unified Robotics. Students worked in teams to build and program robots that could launch a projectile to knock down stacked cups. During the competition, they not only had to collaborate with another team to earn the most points, but they also presented their robot to a panel of judges and described their building and programming process.

December kicked off the Unified Basketball (and newly added Cheer) season, with over 40 students participating in these teams. Students will take the court after Winter Break as they battle other schools in our district. On February 17th at 7:00 p.m., they will take on first responders from Belleville and Van Buren, and on February 25, they head to Little Caesars Arena to play Sterling Heights.

In order to raise funds for the program, Unified hosted a bowling fundraiser on December 12 at Lodge Lanes. Over 100 students, parents, teachers, and community members showed up to bowl and pledge their support of Unified activities at BHS. The money raised will help fund equipment, jerseys, supplies, and so much more.

The hope is to continue expanding Unified programming in the future. Currently, Unified Biology is being discussed, as well as Unified bowling and flag football as potential new sports for next year. To keep up with all things Unified, follow the Instagram page @unifiedtigers.