After school activities are, for many Howell High School students, a large part of their time at Howell High School. From late night football games in the fall, to early morning softball games in the spring, Howell offers many different opportunities for students to participate in sports. A unique opportunity offered at Howell High School is its Unified Sports program, which takes place during the fall and winter giving students the opportunity to play sports while supporting others. Unified allows students with a wide range of disabilities to enjoy high school sports alongside the other students. The students who join unified support each other and keep the program going.
Unified sports are a unique opportunity that give students many different skills, they have to learn patience, persistence, and be able to put others before themselves.
“It moves at a slower pace, but you get more understanding of it and I feel like it’s more interactive and you work together as a team,” sophomore Nicole Feng said.
During the winter, the unified program runs a basketball and pom team, students are allowed to join and partake in either one. The unified pom and basketball team have practice twice a week after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 3:40 p.m and usually have a game once a week. They also play a game at the winter prep assembly each year to show the school the unified program.
“In TIES you help one-on-one, rather than unified where you help everyone,” freshman Paisley Olsen said.
Unified Sports is not the only opportunity for students at Howell High School to help others out, Howell High School offers programs within the school day, like TIES which stands for Together Including Every Student. TIES pairs students with disabilities with students who join the class to help them with peer-to-peer mentoring. Howell High School also has classes like unified sports which allows students to partake in the unified sports program throughout the school day. The classes offered are more one-on-one mentoring but the unified sports program truly works together as a team.
“We celebrate everyone’s successes, we’re not just celebrating when one team makes a basket,” Olsen said
Unified Sports teaches students how to be leaders while putting others before yourself, students who join unified understand the kind of impact the program brings to the school. Over the season the bond within the team grows from weekly practices and games to dance parties at halftime that bring everyone together.
“It’s hard to pick just one favorite part of being a part of unified but one of my favorites is always having dance parties with the other team after our halftime performance,” senior Adrienne Beier said.
As the unified program grows, students hope more of their peers will get involved. Unified members encourage anyone interested to join and experience firsthand the teamwork and positivity that defines the program.
“Joining unified can help fill a hole you didn’t know was there. Coming to practice always makes me feel better even on bad days. It will introduce you to a community and a family of hardworking, kind, and supportive individuals. The friendships you make will last a lifetime and those kids will never forget the impact you had on them. It can significantly improve your life for the better,” Beier said.
