Imagine you’re taking a class or participating in an extracurricular where the students around you always work together. If someone is struggling, there’s a person there to help. Each individual success is celebrated by the group. Everybody is learning something valuable from the people around them, and as a result of this, creating a dynamic that allows all participants to grow.

This is exactly the kind of environment cultivated in a school’s unified programs. Currently, LSE has three of these: Unified Physical Education, Unified Track and Unified Bowling. However, in the near future, three additional unique programs will be introduced to include the interests of even more students. This includes Unified Music, Unified Theater and Inclusive Swim.

But first, how are these activities any different from the non-unified versions? Well, their objective is to create a place where both special education students and general education students can work together, as opposed to an activity offered to only one kind of learning approach. This teamwork is meant to foster friendships and reduce stigmas surrounding individuals with learning differences.

Now, it’s time to explore the up-and-coming unified programs soon to be offered at LSE.

The first is Unified Music, which will be taught by Shelley Lyon, who is the current assistant vocal music director. It will start next semester, in January 2026, open to any students via an application process. The curriculum of this class will be broad and customizable to the students, including many different musical skills: tempo, pitch, dynamics, keeping a beat and more. Different from many of the other music classes offered at LSE, Unified Music is all about the skills necessary to be “a musician your whole life”.

“Your whole life long you need to be able to move to music, listen to it, sing to it, respond to it,” Lyon said.

By taking this class, students can use these abilities and learn how to implement them into their own lives.

Lyon has taught Unified Music before at a separate school, and it’s why she advocated for the implementation of this program to begin with.

“In my previous experiences, Unified Music was my favorite part of the day,” Lyon said. “I just want it to be my student’s favorite part.”

The second new unified program is Unified Theater. This will start in the first semester of the 2026-2027 school year, also available for students through application. Katie Frankforter, LSE theater director and English teacher, will be teaching this class. After seeing North Star High School’s “blooming” Unified Theater program several years ago, Frankforter was inspired.

“I loved that idea, and so part of what I wanted to do when I took over this position was bring Unified Theater to the building,” Frankforter said.

In this class, students will focus on a specific production, learning skills like stage presence, memorization, reading a script and auditioning. At the end of the semester, students will put on a production, applying all of the skills they have learned throughout the class.

“I think it is an opportunity for all of our students to enjoy the world of theater, to learn about the art, to challenge themselves in new and different ways,” Frankforter said.

Frankforter also hopes that the Unified Theater program will attract more students to theater, particularly ones who had never thought about joining before. She highly encourages students to participate in this new opportunity.

“We would love to have a large group of general education and special education students as a part of this for our flagship year,” Frankforter said.

The last of the three new unified programs is Inclusive Swim, which starts after this school year’s Unified Bowling season has ended. This is an extracurricular activity that, as per usual, requires students wanting to participate to go through an application process. John Aylward plans to be the coach, but he wasn’t the one who advocated for the creation of this program. Instead, it was senior Sophi Lee, a swimmer for the LSE Girls Varsity Swim Team.

“I knew we had a swim program like it in the past when my brother was here, so I really wanted to bring it back,” Lee said.

Students part of Inclusive Swim will meet twice a week, swimming and learning the ins-and-outs of various events. The events offered will be 50 meter freestyle, 100 meter freestyle or more depending on the swimmers’ skills. Students will be able to compete in Inclusive Swim meets in Lincoln, allowing them to show off the hard work and progress they’ve made during practice.

As a student advocating for the introduction of Inclusive Swim, Lee has had to jump through many hoops to get this program created. Emailing teachers and finding a sponsor has been the most tedious part of the process.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s very awkward because you’re trying to have a conversation with a whole bunch of adults, so it might not always come out as you’re wanting to say it,” Lee said.

Now that the laborious set-up of the program is over, Lee can reap the rewards of her efforts.

“I’m hoping to partake in it as much as possible,” Lee said.

The introduction of these three new unified programs is a continuation of the name LSE has made of itself as a Special Olympics Unified Champion School. Several years ago, LSE was awarded this title after being recognized for its quantity of programs and activities inclusive of special education students. In fact, LSE is one of the two schools leading the charge for unified programs in LPS, along with Lincoln Southwest High School.

Karista Ackerman, a special education teacher and the department chair for the Special Education Department, believes that unified programs are an important part of the many activities offered at a school.

“It’s just a great way to build relationships and kind of work on some leadership skills,” Ackerman said. “And it’s fun, you know?”

This year, unified programs have expanded in order to connect more students and give them opportunities to express themselves in the activities they enjoy. This can be seen through the introduction of two fine-arts-oriented classes, an option never before available to LSE students. Even the sports extracurriculars had been limited to track and bowling. The addition of Inclusive Swim has made yet another unified sport accessible to students.

Overall, Lyon, Frankforter, Lee and Ackerman encourage participation in these new programs. Both general education and special education students can benefit from the experience, learning from each other by working together.

“The whole goal is for everyone to build friendships and to build community,” Lyon said.