The Special Olympics draws about 4.2 million athletes a year. Now, the IPS program is joining in on the fun.

In addition to classroom work and life skill training, students in IPS are participating in athletic events, such as basketball, bocce and soccer through a program called Unified Sports. They will participate in two tournaments this season.

LHS got introduced to the Unified Sports program last year, but participation is up this year.

“Last years IPS class created a video to stop the use of the R-Word,” said IPS teacher, Susan Micka. “Ms. [Shannon] Draper posted it on the Special Olympics website and the director of Special Olympics in Kansas saw it and got really excited and invited us to participate in Unified Sports.”

The team practices every Thursday after school for an hour. They practice skills like dribbling, shooting, passing, playing defense, and then they play a couple of games. Students said they enjoy themselves.

“We need to practice a bit more, and I am the team leader,” senior Adam Graham said. “It is very hard work but a lot of fun. The first tournament we did well.”

The IPS program is designed to match students with special needs with their peers. The helpers assist the game flow and teach their peers more about the games.

“We are out here grindin’ for this weekend,” senior Nyle Anderson said. “We work on free throws, techniques, handling the ball, and small game. All the small stuff so we can win on Sunday.”

The IPS team played its last tournament recently in Atchison. The goal of the tournament was to get all students out on the court to learn about the game and have fun.

“I like playing and shooting hoops,” junior Kiera Snodgrass said.

Although the basketball season is over for the IPS program, the students will be participating in more events throughout the year, and with the growth of the program, more students are able to get involved.

This year, the IPS class gained enough students to split into two hours. There are 55 total students.
Program coordinators are optimistic about the growth of the program, and are pleased to see students step up and support the cause.

“It is goal of IPS is to promote diversity within the school by teaching each other and being able to provide ourselves the opportunity to find the value that each and every person offers to the world,” Micka said. “By treating everyone with respect, is how we bring out the contributions of people in our community and it is great that the student body is picking up on that.”
Helper students have found working with the their SPED peers to be rewarding and have had fun doing it.

“It is honestly just the best thing in the world to see them make a basket and be so, so excited,” senior Luke Zenger said. “Seeing all those smiles just make it all worth it.”