Burnet Middle School Burnet Middle Schools is off to a great start. They had over 120 club members join their Club. They now offer Unified Intramural Sports to All 7th & 8th graders and had 35 students sign up for that. Their Unified Sports Program practices Monday after school from 3 to 4:30. This started the second Monday in October. Burnet also took pictures in September for Special Olympics to help other schools start up their Unified Sports Program. Jets Uniforms were donated to them and they played unified flag football. Twenty students were selected to be on the leadership committee. They will meet Fridays after school to plan their respect week and assembly! They are going to be making a new video for this year s event. A meeting was held with their Athletic Director to order uniforms for bowling, basketball and track! Chatham High School/ECLC October was a busy month for Chatham/ECLC Play Unified! Every Tuesday in October the club held a social event from 7:00-8:30pm that consisted of opportunities for dancing, crafts, and sports. Each night had a different theme: USA, Chatham/ECLC spirit wear, tie-dye colors, and Halloween costumes. Over 150 members of the club participated each week. This was the most consistent membership participation in these social events they ve had! In addition, their Play Unified Soccer team held practices on Sundays. While disappointed that we were unable to compete in the tournament at Mercer County Park, the practices were fun and included over 30 club members. Page 1
Clayton High School/Middle School The Clayton Unified PE classes started at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. They have a High School class that has 18 students, with and without special needs, and a Middle School class, which has 26 students. The students without special needs volunteered to be a part of the Unified PE class rather than a regular physical education class. The students are learning to work with each other and include everyone regardless of abilities. Both Unified PE classes are a great way for all the students to learn and grow together throughout the year. A great example is a special needs senior that was a huge part of their Spirit week for Homecoming. At the pep rally, she competed in the free throw competition and not only won the first round but won the whole competition. She gained confidence in herself through the Unified PE class and she has a memory that will last a lifetime. The classes are looking forward to having a Unified Kickoff event in November to invite parents as well other students to see what they are doing in their Unified PE classes. They also plan to have a bowling team that will compete in a Unified league. Delaware Valley Regional High School Pumpkin Patch Trip: During school hours they had a select group of students who are part of a lunch bunch go on a school trip to the pumpkin patch to visit the farm animals, pick a pumpkin, hay ride and have lunch. Pumpkin Decorating Activity: Students stayed after school to decorate them and then they decorated one large pumpkin per group. Football game cheering and pizza: Students gathered in the classroom for pizza an hour before a football game and then went to the football game and sat together in the stands to cheer and watch the game. Page 2
Ewing High School For the month of October, they focused on preparing for the Unified Cup Soccer Tournament. Unfortunately, it was cancelled; however, their members enjoyed having the opportunity to practice with each other. Partners and athletes also had the opportunity to practice skills and interact with each other in the Unified PE class. They are still working on having consistent membership. This month they talked about setting up an activity in December for pie baking with the culinary club. Frank J. Smith Elementary School October was spent recruiting 2nd Grade students for their #BeAPal program. All 2nd Grade students were introduced to the message of their program, and were then able to fill out an application for membership. Over 50 students applied! Meanwhile, staff and parents identified some students with special needs that would benefit from the BeAPal program. Ms. Parker and Ms. Naccara, who run the program, also spent time planning the Unified PE Class that will begin in early November. They are very excited to begin and introduce their students to their new pals! Hamilton High School West 10/25/17 Unified Flag Football. Hillsborough High School Halloween Scavenger Hunt, 10/25/2017. Students created Halloween masks and goody bags to use as they went trick-or-treating on their scavenger hunts. Dressed in costumes, students separated into 4 groups with typical peers and used clues to travel around the building searching for the board members. At each station, board members were waiting for students with treats (for trick-or-treating). Page 3
Jefferson Township High School At their first meeting of the year they discussed new plans since they are adding monthly meetings. They discussed expectations of attendance once the season starts. They had an awesome turn out, doubling their numbers from last year. Students were excited and talked about what they want to do. Examples; kickball, baseball, dance off, Basketball, and hosting a Christmas Party in December. They played two games to get things started and the students had a ball. They are looking forward to future meetings. Kawameeh Middle School They have watched Burnet s videos made to further explain and deliver the message that they want all to understand about their club (the whole school). They had a club Halloween Party where students helped bake treats, carve pumpkins, bake the seeds and socialize with one another once all the preparation was done. Mainland Regional High School Soccer game vs Cedar Creek. Page 4
Montgomery Township High School 10/26/17, Fall is Fun Social. North Hunterdon High School Homecoming Dance: Students went with their job coaches and their Buddy program. Students celebrated The Week of Respect (October 10-13) wearing t-shirts, handing out bracelets, and spreading the word around the building! Students also started their soccer season!! Page 5
Overbrook High School They had their first meeting on October 18th. They have 22 students involved in their club. Their club also connected with an English class and did some horticulture. The club also did some artwork with the Art club. Pond Road Middle School At the first Play Unified Meeting of the year, students were paired and tasked with learning about their partner. They then introduced their partner to the group. Advisors explained the purpose of Play Unified and some of the activities that we are involved in. Students were given information about and a permission slip for the PU Tailgate being hosted by the High School s club. Students were also informed of our PU Google Classroom where they can go to keep up to date with our PU plans and activities. Students then played a game of Night at the Museum before leaving for the day. Sayreville Middle School The Unified soccer season is now well under way. Three of the 6 practices have been completed and the kids are really enjoying themselves. During the month of October, the Unified Soccer team was selected, and was fortunate enough to participate in the fall pep rally with all the other fall sports teams. It was obvious to see the kid s enjoyment during the pep rally, most have never been a part of something that big that involved the whole school body! Our culminating event will be on November 16 with the Bomber World Cup. Randolph High School They had their first night time club meeting. Students made lasagna during the day and ate it as a group for dinner at night. Parents dropped their children off for a three-hour evening event. This included a partnership activity with the girls soccer team and then dinner on our own. This was great exposure for their students and another opportunity to form relationships with people outside of special education. Ridge High School October consisted of practices and a tournament in Union City High School. We had events Pumpkin Picking and Michael s Craft/Costco for our unified Club. We are in the process of setting up meeting dates for the basketball season, collecting physicals, and preparing for an RHS Basketball Tournament. Page 6
Somerville High School 9/22/17 Somerville High School Football Game and Pizza Party: Students and peers in the Peer2Peer Club had pizza in the classroom before attending a home football game together. 9/23/17 Peer2Peer Club Fundraiser at the Branchburg Country Fair: Students and peers in the Peer2Peer Club volunteered at the Branchburg Country Fair to sell Moe s Southwest Grille food as a club fundraiser. 10/2/17 to 10/6/17 Respect Week: Members of the Peer2Peer Club held Respect Week and led schoolwide activities, wore Respect T-shirt s, and distributed Respect bracelets to the student body. Steinert High School East This month Steinert had a lot of fun with their Unified Sports and Unified Club. They started practicing for the Unified Cup in early October after putting their team together. The students had fun doing different warm ups and practiced playing soccer. They also participated in the October Summit at the SONJ Sports Complex in Lawrenceville. In late October, they participated in a Unified Flag Football game. Students from Hamilton High West, Nottingham and Steinert came together in a Unified Flag Football game. Team members were divided into two groups named Spirit and Pride. Page 7
Union City High School The highlight of October was the Union City High School club hosting a Unified Soccer Tournament! They were able to get Ridge and Millburn to come to Union City on a rainy morning for some unified soccer. Two members of the Red Bulls Freestyle team, who stayed and performed a show for the audience, also joined them for the whole event. There were members of the boys and girls varsity soccer team, as well as club members who helped organize the event. They had over 80 people there including their assistant principal. They received a lot of positive feedback from administrators who indicated they would want to host future events this year, specifically basketball. They were lucky to have club members support their traditional Special Olympics soccer team this year as they played in the Northern Sectional Tournament as well as the Fall Games, where they took gold for Division 1 soccer. That team will be included in the Fall Sports Pep Rally this week. They are currently planning a party to honor the team and their success. The Director of Special Services reached out to their club to invite them to a local 5k race that was sponsored by the Union City Police Department. They were generous enough to give them 15 free race entries. They took members of their Unified Soccer Team and some club members walked/ran the 5k together and proudly wore their club shirts. Page 8
Union City Soccer Tournament with Millburn and Ridge High School Page 9
Voorhees High School The Unified Club sold candy grams for Halloween. Students and staff in the school could purchase a candy gram for someone. They could leave a short message for their friend. The students and peers in Unified delivered the candy grams Halloween morning. The Unified Soccer season is coming to an end. Their last practice is November 8th. During their home soccer game against North Hunterdon High School, Unified members sold apple cider doughnuts and apple cider drinks at the game. The Unified Soccer team was invited to be announced at the Voorhees Varsity Boys Soccer Senior Night. The whole team was recognized and announced by name at the start of the soccer game. Unified Basketball registration is up and running and the schedule is being formed. Friday, October 6th was the Homecoming football game. All students in the Unified program were invited to attend the game together. The peers were set up with the students and they had a great time at the football game. Page 10
West Morris Mendham High School October was a very productive month for Unified Sports in West Morris Regional HSD. During this month, they held an election for club officers. The Leadership Committee also met to discuss next steps. This included a discussion about the potential move to competitive NJSIAA Unified play in coming years, debriefing from the Change the Game Conference, and working to create a goal for how best to bring their sister school, West Morris Central, onboard with the Unified Movement beginning at Mendham High School. This meeting involved administration from both schools, and was conducted on the same night as the district Board of Education meeting in order to allow them to get the necessary approval for anything that needed it. For the club and its members, work has begun on one of their first projects. Students are working with members of the art department to create a Unified Paint Night. As the details of this event begin to fall into place, they are now able to start taking steps towards a concrete date for the event. In addition to this, preparation has begun with regards to their basketball season in the spring. Woodrow Wilson Middle School (Clifton) On October 31, the Woodrow Wilson Play Unify Club hosted their annual Unified Halloween Party. Club members planned and organized games, craft activities and special treats with their self-contained classes. Everyone had a fun filled day celebrating Halloween. Club members look forward to planning and participating in the event every year. Page 11