For the past two years, the Special Olympics Club at Tabor Academy has been hosting and attending a multitude of different activities celebrating the athletic achievement of intellectually impaired athletes.As a founding board member of our student-run club, I have had an extremely personal connection to all of the events that we have sponsored. I am so fortunate to have a role as a leadership board member.
Our club strives to provide opportunities for intellectually impaired individuals to participate in athletics, thus working to create a more inclusive community. As a small group, the leadership board helps to plan events such as our annual polar plunge, winter young athletes program, basketball tournaments, the School Day Games program for our morning of service, and unified rowing events in the spring, each of which provide opportunities for intellectually impaired individuals to participate in athletics. Throughout my four years on this board, I have been asked to hold and facilitate meetings, contact outside sponsors, host Special Olympics awareness campaigns, and even personally work alongside the Director of Development of Special Olympics Massachusetts.
Due to the inspiring and growing commitment of our board and our student volunteers to create school-wide programs, Tabor was designated as a Unified Champion School by Special Olympics MA. The student club, started in 2016 by Molly Bent ’16, allowed Tabor to become the first independent school in Massachusetts to earn this distinction. “Tabor has embraced all three components of being a Unified Champion School – through youth leadership, whole school engagement, and unified sports,” said Kathy Lutz, Schools and Unified Sports Manager at Special Olympics MA. “We are so excited to partner with such a great school that not only supports our programming but continues to strengthen and grow this model!”
Working with Special Olympics is something that I am very passionate about, because I believe that it is extremely important to raise awareness about the issues facing the intellectually impaired so that others can better relate to them. Special Olympics events allow us to understand that every athlete is unique and that their efforts deserve to be celebrated. Recognizing and accepting individual differences are the first steps toward creating a culture that honors diversity and seeks inclusivity within a community, qualities I strive to augment at Tabor.
Please enjoy these photos from our recent campus event, School Day Games, on January 16, with our friends from Special Olympics, MA.
Note: Unified sports pair Special Olympics athletes (those with intellectual disabilities) with partners without intellectual disabilities as teammates for training and competition.
