A School of Redhawks

Elena Kohn

Joshua Harman (left), Mr. Massie (center), and Blake Garner (right) huddling together.

Being a student at Wredling is more than just a grade or a building where the walls blend into daily life. Our school serves as a mini-community, a subsect of St. Charles. There is a magnetism here at Wredling, hooking you into opportunities that you can share with friends, staff, and everyone around you. Even with our differences, Wredling is a place that invites everyone to swim together and unite under one goal. Currently, as Wredling plans to become a Unified Champion School (UCS), these programs and events are creating an even more inclusive environment for everybody.

What is a Unified Champion School (UCS)?

Wredling is becoming a Unified Champion School, but what exactly does that mean?  A Unified Champion School earns its title by partnering with the Special Olympics to support students of all backgrounds and abilities. Mrs. Fowler, a district physical therapist, and Mr. Massie, an eighth-grade Social Studies teacher and coach, are leading the charge.

Mrs. Fowler shares, “A Unified Champion School (UCS) promotes inclusion, acceptance, and respect for all students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities through three components: unified sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement.”

According to Mr. Massie, “A Unified School partners Special Olympians with player partners. It encourages diversity and inclusion among players with different abilities.”

This is what Wredling has strived for throughout the years: belonging, acceptance, and inclusion. Being a Unified Champion School allows people to work together and use their unique abilities to help one another.

How do we get there?

Mrs. Fowler shared what Wredling must accomplish to officially become a Unified Champion School.

1. Unified Sports: Coach Massie was excited to lead our first unified sport, our basketball team! We also plan to have a unified bowling team on three Tuesdays in May.
2. Inclusive Leadership: The Builders Club and Student Council planned our Kindness Week celebration this past February.
3. Whole School Engagement: Wredling must host events like our “Pack the Stands” and our upcoming “Cool School Plunge” for Special Olympics on March 25th.

Along with these requirements, offering additional inclusive programs encourages a sense of togetherness that sits at the core of Wredling. Mrs. Fowler named some of these opportunities already in place:

• Adapted PE and unified PE classes.
• An inclusive club (In-Club), and other school clubs welcome students with and without disabilities.”
• Staff, teams, and clubs that support events like the “Pack the Stands” game. “Mr. Nold helped schedule our game, and so many staff, teams, and clubs helped with that event!”

Favorite Moment from the “Pack the Stands” Game

The “Pack the Stands” game was simply amazing to see. The amount of support from students, teachers, and parents was awe-inspiring. The crowd showed up to support every player on both teams, and the signs in the stands made it even more special.

From Mrs. Fowler’s and Mr. Massie’s perspectives, these were their favorite moments:

Mrs. Fowler:

• “Everyone cheering while the players were introduced, and the girls’ basketball team creating a tunnel for the players to run through.”
• “The crowd exploding in cheers when Blake Garner made a basket.”
• “The unified partners unselfishly playing with our Special Olympians, and setting up plays so they could make a basket.”
• “Seeing the smiles on the faces of the students, staff, parents, and fans in the stands.”

Mr. Massie shared, “Pack the stands was an unexpected success. The way the school came out to support the team was amazing. Winning a regional gold medal was a nice moment as well.”

Seeing these moments through their eyes is inspiring. More than just enjoying a game, the school community gathered as one and fostered a powerful sense of belonging. So being a Unified Champion School is great, but what truly makes it so meaningful?

Why is Wredling interested in becoming a Unified Champion School?

Mrs. Fowler, a strong supporter of this work, sums it up perfectly. Being a Unified Champion School is more than just the title or the partnership with the Special Olympics. It represents inclusion and community support, something Wredling has prided itself on cultivating for years.

“Wredling has already been an inclusive, unified community in some ways for years. Wredling has inclusive clubs, inclusive PE, and is very supportive of D303 United Special Olympics. When I attended some Special Olympics unified basketball games last year in Schaumburg, it was like another dimension of inclusion for me. It was so exciting to see how the players related to each other. Parents and fans told me how much their athletes enjoyed playing together. The coaches shared their experiences and how it positively impacted the student body. I wanted that same positive experience for our students at Wredling. Once Principal Favero approved and Coach Massie offered to coach a unified basketball team, we started the process to become a UCS.”

When asked what he loves about coaching the Unified Basketball Team, Mr. Massie shared, “Watching players that might not normally hang out together becoming teammates and friends and watching kids cheer each other on”.

He also shared the values he believes are most important to a team: “Hard work, sacrifice, serving others, positive attitudes, and perseverance”.

Being on a team is special, and it applies to any group that works together under a mission. Teams are built on belonging. Each member is a piece of the puzzle that makes the group stronger. Especially on the Unified Basketball Team, strong relationships are at the heart of success.

Final Thoughts

Mrs. Fowler had a final important message for our Redhawks, one that can be applied in so many ways, both in and out of school.

“I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to our Wredling community for showing up in so many ways to include, celebrate, and show respect to your fellow students. We are all unique. We each have different strengths, preferences, skills, and personalities. Different, not less. Value each other. Choose to include someone different than you. When we are unified, working together, one person’s skill can help another person who doesn’t have that skill, and both can succeed together.”

Mr. Massie added, “The largest component is inclusion and opportunities for all kids to participate and feel successful.”

These messages are really powerful and certainly make you think. Our minds may swim the rivers differently, but our differences allow us to succeed together. Inclusion means letting everyone in and giving each person the opportunity to be a part of something greater than themselves.

Being human means having flaws, like a fish tank with a little too much algae, but our differences make us unique. One year ago, a Wred Feather article was written about ADHD and Autism. Personally, I have ADHD, and there is nothing bad about it. There may be perfectionism sprinkled into my work like fish food, or moments where I forget things so rapidly that even a goldfish’s memory can’t compete. Even though the idea that goldfish have short memories is not entirely true, the analogy is still pertinent.

It’s like we are all goldfish swimming in the same school. We may not know everything about the seas, lakes, rivers, and ponds we move through, but we swim together. That togetherness is belonging.

“Different is not a synonym for bad.” Just because someone has different beliefs, interests, or ways of expressing themselves does not make them lesser. Even if you don’t share someone’s belief system, you can still learn from them. The Golden Rule, attributed to Jesus, says to treat others the way you want to be treated. You don’t have to focus on religion to understand the message.

Treating others with kindness builds inclusion and belonging in any community. By embracing these differences and swimming together as one school, we aren’t just earning a title… we are proving exactly what it means to be a Unified Champion School.