KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Tod learned of this story idea as part of KSHB 41's Let's Talk event in Lee's Summit. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
Inclusion doesn’t need to be a high-minded concept. Sometimes, it’s as simple as playing together.
Lee’s Summit Student Council President Charley Hall spent part of Thursday playing with Chris, an elementary school student in the district’s special programs.
She first met Chris at regular Thursday bowling practices for Special Olympics.
“I love Chris because he loves Taylor Swift and I love Taylor Swift,” Hall said. “We keep talking about it every single week that I bowled with him, and he's just told me about how much he's excited for Travis Kelce to play that week and everything like that.”
The pair reconnected Thursday at Bud Hertzog Stadium on the Lee’s Summit High School campus for Choose to Include, a district-wide play day that partners LSR7 special-needs students with older peers.
“We started this with the intention of really promoting inclusive activities and involvement, and growing our Special Olympics program,” LSR7 Executive Director of Special Services Staci Mathes said.
Students in special programs often attend special classes, so they are, in a sense, segregated from the general school population. Events like Choose to Include and the curriculum of other LSR7 classes aim to eliminate those silos, allowing all students the chance to blend in with the crowd.
“Just seeing his excitement is the best part,” Hall said.
She considers her involvement with the Special Olympics a blessing.
“Sometimes, I have way more fun hanging out with them than my friends, because I just know that they're always going to be having a good time no matter what's going on — what's going on in the world, what's going on in our school, anything like that,” Hall said. “They're always going to be having a good time, so it's really just like a breath of fresh air.”
Mathes isn’t surprised and she is pleased to see the impact Choose to Include and Peer Inclusive Environment classes, which are also expanding into LSR7 middle schools, have made in creating a culture of acceptance and inclusion for special-programs students.
“We have been increasing our participation rates for students on IEPs that are participating in clubs, activities and athletics at their school,” she said.
Hall has noticed: “It really has allowed them just to get way more involved in the community and not be like, just put into their own classroom. ... You can just tell people are really recognizing it and just being supportive of it.”
That goes for day-to-day school life or including special-programs students in extracurriculars, such as being included in student cheering sections at football games or even on athletic rosters.
“We can never stop the work that is so important to make sure that all of our kids have access and opportunities,” Mathes said.
This was the fourth year for LSR7’s Choose to Include program.
—
