Manhattan High School’s Interpersonal Skills class hosted a unified sports event during the Advisory hour on  March 30 and April 6.

 available The event was open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors. Those who participated chose one of four competitions: four square, knockout, bocce ball or 3 on 3 basketball.

Around 80 students participated in the initial rounds of the competition on March 30. The goal of the event was to promote inclusion among students in school.

“With this event we wanted to create something that would bring in people from all over the school,” IPS teacher Jamie Schnee said. “Not just in IPS, to create a sense of inclusion and togetherness to bridge some of the gaps and stigma around disabilities and other marginalized groups in the school.”

Those who played well enough moved on to the final round of competitions that were held during Advisory the following week. All participants received a free T-shirt as well as a free lunch on April 6. There was a great turn-out for the event and everyone enjoyed themselves.

One of the inspirations of this event was the hope for MHS to become a Unified Champion School, a model of school that focuses on bringing students with learning disabilities with other peers to do activities like sports to spread the message of inclusion. 

“It has always been my goal to have Manhattan High be a Unified Champion School,” Schnee said. “To compete in sports with students with disabilities and with their peers, so this was kind of the jumping point for that.”

“I thought it was amazing. More people came than I expected,” senior IPS member Emily Ashmore said. “I was really happy with it. I think everyone had fun.”