Bloomington High School North is one of four Indiana high schools to receive national recognition from Special Olympics North America for its work creating inclusive sports and activities for students with and without intellectual disabilities.
The school earned a National Banner in the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program after meeting 10 national standards focused on inclusion, advocacy and respect, according to Special Olympics Indiana.
For 15 years, Bloomington North has participated in Champions Together, a partnership between the Indiana High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics Indiana. Through the program, the school offers Unified Sports, which brings students with and without disabilities together to compete on the same teams.
North currently offers unified track, bowling and cornhole.
Brooke Fleener, a teacher and Unified Sports coach at Bloomington North, said the national recognition reflects the work students have done to build an inclusive school community.
“For the national banner, it is an amazing accomplishment that our students have achieved, and I’m super happy and extremely excited for them,” Fleener said.
The school’s Unified Sports programs have grown significantly since they began, Fleener said. The unified track team had 12 members in its first year and now draws more than 70 students annually. Bowling typically has between 30 and 40 participants, while cornhole had 38 students in its first year.
Bloomington North has received a state banner every year since joining Champions Together. This is the school’s first national recognition.
To earn the national banner, schools must also have an inclusive youth leadership component, school-wide engagement, fundraising efforts and at least three Unified Sports.
Fleener said adding cornhole last year allowed the school to meet the national program’s requirement of offering at least three Unified Sports.
“Until we started cornhole, I knew we didn’t fulfill the requirements for the national banner,” Fleener said. “Once we started our cornhole, that allowed Bloomington High School North to be able to apply for the national banner.”
The school earned the national banner in its first year applying.
Fleener said Champion Together programs give students opportunities to participate, develop leadership skills and build relationships with their peers.
She said students with and without disabilities learn from one another through the programs.
“It gives everyone a place and everyone to feel welcome,” Fleener said. “It allows our students who may not have a place to fit in some leadership, and then they can grow their own leadership skills. With our students with disabilities, they are teaching our unified partners just what it means to not give up and have determination and resilience.”
More than 600 Indiana schools participate in the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program, which includes about 12,000 schools nationwide, according to Special Olympics.
“It’s important that, no matter if you have a disability or not, you should be a part of something and feel included,” Fleener said. “It just means that we continue to work and strive for inclusion in our school.”
