A film crew from Special Olympics North America visited LHS last month to make a video about IPS and unified sports programs, recording class instruction, and personal testimonials. The video will showcase the high standard of integration and acceptance at Lawrence High as part of their push to spread inclusion in academics and athletics throughout the country.

Lawrence High is a “special unified champions school.” The title recognizes schools with exemplary programs dedicated to inclusion, as senior manager of digital communications for unified champions schools Caroline Chevat explains.

“What makes up a special unified champions school has three components,” Chevat said. “Special unified sports, that’s when students with and without intellectual disabilities play and compete together, inclusivity leadership, with students of all abilities leading together and then whole school engagement, when the whole school community whether it’s the principal, a student, a janitor, whoever feels included, accepted, and valued.”

The criteria for the title are held to high standards, but to Chevat, Lawrence High passes these expectations with flying colors.

“Lawrence has always stood out to us on a national level of embodying those three values,” she said. “We’ve had different articles about LHS sent to us, and special mixed Kansas has always been pointing out Lawrence and all the amazing things that the student body and the staff do,”

 The strength of the IPS and special Olympics programs was immediately apparent to Chevat throughout the filming process.

“I think just, after being here for a few hours, how organic it feels and how the whole school community seems to rally around IPS and the values of a unified champion school.” Chevat said. “felt welcome the second i stepped in the door.”

The positive atmosphere continually generated by IPS wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of their coordinator. Suzie Micka has been the sponsor of IPS for ten years and the Special Olympics section for eight. Without Micka’s inclusive attitude she may not have had a foot in the door with Special Olympics.

“Our state coordinator for inclusion for Kansas Special Olympics gave me a call and said they’re looking for a school and I think you’re perfect, would you be interested,” Micka said.

The two collaborated to plan out the event and solidify the roles of the students, staff, and camera people.

“We kind of worked together through emails to put together what the day would look like,” Micka said. “They had a very clear picture of what kinds of shots they wanted to get,”

The filming included a segment of class time taught by Micka as well as instruction by students and youth activation committee representatives to the state Jack Ritter and Treven Gill. They worked to help kids tap in with their emotions through inclusive activities and instruction.

“They sent me the script ahead of time,” Micka said. “Once they got here we personalized that script to Lawrence High and to Treven and Jack’s experiences.”

In addition to filming class periods, they filmed one on one interviews and testimonials as well as a round table discussion hosted by LHS alum and national youth initiative ambassador Katherine Stineman. Stineman was ecstatic to come back to her alma mater to help showcase a program she was heavily involved in during her time as a student.

“It shows that Lawrence high school is a role model for schools across the country when it comes to inclusion,” Stineman said. “It was especially meaningful for me because I was able to work with the special Olympics team I worked with the past two years,”

The IPS program helped Stineman develop a new understanding of the world, fundamentally shifting how she views different scenarios.

“Without the exposure to inclusion I had at Lawrence High through IPS, Special Olympics, and unified sports I would never have thought that way. Differences should be embraced, not hidden,” Stineman said. “There is value in every person and talents to be showcased in every person. Athletics is a great example, unified sports gives any and every student at Lawrence high school the same opportunities to thrive and be celebrated.”

The impact of having the crew there was felt among the students as well. Senior Jackson Martin was happy that the growth in Special Olympics since he started school here had been noticed.

“My freshman year it was small I felt, but now we have a lot more people joining, a lot more inclusion,” Martin said. “In the end that’s the goal.”