A high five. A fist bump. A smile. A “Go team!” The hallways of Lincoln Southeast (LSE) bustle with student interactions. Some that stand out the most are ones between special education students and general education students. Many of these interactions are based on meaningful friendships created in Unified clubs, classes or sports.
One of the largest unifiers of special and general education at LSE is the club Community of Learners (COL). This year, COL’s co-leaders are senior Britta Carlson and her sophomore sister Annika Carlson, who is shadowing Britta this year.
During each meeting, students of COL complete different activities and participate in unique stations related to the time of year. In September students went outside to enjoy the nice weather for their first COL meeting of the year, however in October, their meeting was indoors and activities were centered around Halloween. Activities transition from more “getting to know you” questions to ones that strengthen the bonds created between students as the semester progresses.
Britta has been a member of COL since her freshman year, and has seen the club grow through her entire high school experience. Overall, the relationships built in COL are Britta’s “number one” favorite thing she loves about COL. One of her favorite moments associated with COL is when a student shared what he enjoyed most about the club during one of COL’s graduation ceremonies, and said that he had never felt like he belonged in Southeast but he did when he was in COL.
Another positive Britta has noticed as a result of COL is how the club creates friendships between students outside of the club. One way she sees this is through the interactions students have in the hallways or at lunch.
“When I’m walking in the hallway, [I see] people who are at COL in D-Hall next to the special education department, [where] oftentimes students are outside. And we always say ‘hi’ and they say ‘hi’ first. I say it just creates that school environment [of] friendship where we say ‘hi’ to each other in the hallway or we sit together at lunch.”
Another activity LSE has that creates opportunities like those of COL is the class, Unified P.E.
Unified P.E. student Sabrina Collier-Kepler (10) participated in Unified P.E. for the first time this semester. Although she has only been a member for a short time, she has made friends and has seen many positive aspects of the class firsthand. She specifically enjoys meeting new people and building relationships with them.
“My favorite part is just getting to see previous partners that I’ve had in the past and getting to see them in the hallway too and just getting to know everybody in that class.”
During Unified P.E., general education students are paired with special education students to play team games. Collier-Kepler believes that the competition is a fun thing for all of the students.
“Some of the students are really competitive, so it’s really fun if you’re partnered with one of them and then they get to win and they get really excited.”
She recommends this class to many other people and believes that it is helpful for getting others out of their comfort zone.
“If [students] have a really good friend in that class, then they’re more willing to be out of their comfort zone if they’re with that friend.”
The relationships between partners are also very meaningful. Partners who know more or are more experienced in the class often help partners who are new, which helps build a community and makes new members feel welcomed.
Other than COL and Unified P.E. there are also sports where special and general education students compete together. LSE has Unified Bowling and Unified Track where all students are encouraged to join. The various inclusive opportunities available for students with and without disabilities is what led LSE to be named a Special Olympics Unified Champion School two years ago.
But the awards that these Unified programs bring to Southeast aren’t the reason to join. Both Britta and Collier-Kepler encourage students to join Unified classes and clubs because of the opportunities for friendships and for diversity, which positively impact all involved.
“We can all build friendships in a group and have fun no matter what we look like or anything like that,” Britta said.
One of LSE’s special education teachers, Tyler Mathers, believes that uniting special and general education students is valuable for both parties.
“Not only does it positively affect students with disabilities to grow socially, academically, and physically, it can be beneficial for students without disabilities to be more empathetic and understand others.”
Additionally, he believes that Unified programs help members of the LSE community be more aware of people who may differ from them.
“I think when other people view a population that they don’t know about, they are only going off of assumptions they’ve heard,” Mathers said. “When those people can actually hang out with that population, it can be beneficial and possibly life-changing for them. They could make new friends and gain more social opportunities that are good for everyone.”
As a whole, LSE stays inclusive through its sports, clubs, classes, and even school-wide events. Within the Unified program, there is talk of other possible Unified activities, such as snack shops and more Unified art and music classes. Though those activities are mostly ideas at this point in time, overall, LSE strives to be as inclusive as possible with their other Unified activities.
“I do think we really like to incorporate students with disabilities as much as possible in many facets of school. I think it has just been a culture we’ve been able to build up and normalize over time,” Mathers said.
