Growing Unified program forges friendships through disability inclusion

As Koby Lor rolled onto the soccer field at McKay High School, a friend called out to him.

“No drinking and driving, bro,” his classmate teased, pointing to the water bottle sitting on Lor’s wheelchair tray. Lor laughed.

He’s one of 100 participants in a three-week high school summer camp that brings participants with and without disabilities together to practice soccer skills, make art, be outside and play video games.

The Unified summer camp is part of the Salem-Keizer School District’s larger Unified program, a growing effort to bridge gaps between students with and without disabilities who have historically been separated in school. The program is part of Special Olympics Oregon.

Lor, an incoming sophomore at North Salem High School, participated this year with his brother and sister, who also attend North. He said he’s enjoyed the field trips the program offers and the chance to make new friends.

“It’s fun,” he said. “We get to go outside.”

The program is deliberate about its language. Students with disabilities are called athletes, and students without disabilities who participate are called partners — not volunteers. There’s no community service credit or other reward for participating. The goal is to build authentic friendships.

Amanda Burke, a special education and elementary school teacher, is now the lead teacher for the Unified program. She said it’s focused on the type of inclusion she wants for her young daughter, who has a disability.

“I don’t want people volunteering their time to hang out with my kid,” Burke said. “I want her to have friends.”

Burke said Unified focuses on sports and recreation because it’s easier to make friends there than through classes like math.

“Not a lot of people are like, ‘This is my best friend, we bonded over graphing,’” she said.

Once students meet through the program, they often go on to help each other in class or maintain friendships outside of Unified activities.

A growing Unified movement

Salem-Keizer leaders began the Unified program in 2018 with a gym class at South Salem High School.

Following the pandemic return to in-person classes, social skills became a larger focus at school and the program expanded using state grant money with the goal of improving students’ sense of belonging.

Unified programs are now at every district middle and high school, and 12 elementary schools. Thousands of students participate each year.

With that expansion, Salem-Keizer Unified has gone beyond its origins as an athletic program. Some high schools offer multiple Unified classes that students with and without disabilities can take for credit, like ceramics, weight training and leadership.

The summer camps began in 2021 and include options for elementary, middle and high school students. 

In the high school camp, students are grouped by the school they attend and rotate through five stations, a mix of indoor and outdoor activities. In the McKay High School gym, students chased one another with foam pool noodles, playing a game mixing elements of tag and combat.

In a classroom, Lor played Mario Kart with his brother and sister as other students and teachers showed off their moves playing Just Dance. Outside on the soccer field, students practiced kicking or throwing soccer goals.

Burke and Calley Owings, a school district administrator, run the camps and the larger Unified program. They’re focused on fun but also include discussions of disability and inclusion. 

Owings tells the group that some games are like stairs — they work well for most people, but can leave some out. Other games are “ramp games” — something everyone can participate in.

The topics resonate naturally with elementary schoolers, Owings said, who haven’t yet picked up as many social norms that often lead older kids to seek out peers like them.

“They’re all about being fair and equal,” Burke said.

Big impact

Both women said they’ve seen benefits for students, teachers and entire schools that have started Unified programs.

Students in middle and especially high school often have few opportunities to play sports that aren’t competitive. Varsity athletes often tell Burke their sport feels more like a job at times, and students who aren’t skilled enough for school teams may not have a chance to play at all.

Unified offers students a chance to play with friends without pressure.

“They’re big, but they’re still kids,” Burke said of the high school students.

A Sumpter Elementary School special education teacher told the pair that she used to feel cut off from the rest of the school. With her students participating in Unified, more students know who she is, and several dressed up as her for the school’s last “dress like a teacher day.” 

“We see changes in culture in a school,” Owings said.

And several teachers staffing the Unified summer camps told Owings they now want to get an endorsement on their teacher license for special education.

As more Oregon schools have adopted Unified programs, athletes now have the opportunity to compete in statewide track and field events.

North Salem High School’s Unified track team took first place at state this year, and first place in the individual shotput and 4×100 relay events.

Elijah Huff, a North sophomore, is one of the athletes who competed.

“It was scary because I never got to do that before,” he said of the competition. But compared to running track in middle school, the Unified event was “a lot more fun.”

Huff moved to Salem in middle school after previously living in the Portland area and several small towns in Yamhill County. He said having the summer camp last year helped him settle into high school and get to know people before classes began.

“It was nice because I got to see the school a little bit,” he said.

North sophomore Marley Ehrens attended summer camp and also played on a Unified Hoopla team for the third time this year. She joined the Unified program at school after her older sister fell in love with it and has been highly involved with the program since.

Ehrens said she appreciates the chance to play sports she enjoys but isn’t especially good at. 

“It’s nice to get out to play more and have fun,” she said.

She’s made close friends through the program and said she’s appreciated learning more about disability and how to include her classmates.

“It’s like everybody with everybody,” she said. “Nobody ever feels singled out.”

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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