A Pep Rally for Our Special Olympic Athletes: Finding Our True North

Today was an extraordinary day at North Rowan High School.  What appeared to be the last Monday before a well deserved spring break turned out to be one of North Rowan's proudest moments.  Unbeknownst to many,  a couple of Design Challenge students had been worked tediously behind the scenes to create a pep rally / basketball game for our athletes who would be competing in Special Olympics later this week.  Students were charged with designing their own challenge while ensuring that they met the competencies set forth in the areas of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, and agency.  We challenged our students to create a challenge that really mattered.  As this was our final challenge, we wanted to see what students had learned and could do.

One group, compromised of mainly athletes, realized that too often many groups in our school are "underlooked."  One such group is our students who compete in Special Olympics.  From earlier challenges, students had realized that these students often feel disconnected from various parts of school.  As a result, this group decided that the school needed to do something to recognize and celebrate our Special Olympics athletes.  And as such, they came through in True North fashion that only a Cavalier could pull off.  This group coordinated the band and cheerleaders even though both groups have finished for the year.  Additionally, they recruited buddies for each athlete to help and provide encouragement during the game.  The group designed a poster for each student that included their likes.  The group also coordinated with our principal and athletic director to secure the time, place, and equipment necessary for the event.  Additionally, they worked closely with the teacher and instructional assistants to ensure that this event was a quality production. 

While there were a few glitches and a learning curve, I was pleased to see the students used their strengths and talents to create a truly innovative experience that elicited many positive and encouraging responses throughout social media.  Several parents shared the following:

• "Please let the Design Challenge Students know what an impact they made today"
• "This is awesome! From a former CCAC teacher, this is what it’s all about. We are all unique and special. Celebrating that uniqueness in us all is so important."
  
• "That is fantastic!"
  

One commenter even included that she wished her nearby high school would do the same for their students.  

In working with our Design students on this events, I heard them comment numerous times how much more work this was than they imagined.  They never realized how hard it is to keep everything running smoothly.  The Design students learned a lot about event coordination that we could never have taught them in the academic classroom.  Further, they showed the importance of empathy by taking this opportunity to recognize their fellow students in a positive way.  In the end, this group definitely saw, along with the entire school, that their work mattered and it made a difference for students.  It is my hope that others were connecting to this important lesson that our students were teaching each of us. I also hope that our example will inspire other schools to create a comparable event not just for Special Olympic athletes but for other groups who may have been underlooked as well.  May this example inspire each of us to think of the greater good and remind us of what our students are truly capable of doing when given the opportunity and support needed.