NKyTribune staff report
Ryle High School earned another elite distinction — Special Olympics Unified Champion National Banner School.
The recognition means they achieved 10 specific benchmarks for full-inclusive sports or fitness programs in a school. This National Banner means Ryle is the best of the best in the Unified Champion Schools program. Last week, they held a banner-raising ceremony celebration.
“The students, administration, faculty and staff at Ryle High School have really been leaders in the inclusive school community movement for many, years,” Special Olympics Kentucky Unified Champion Schools Director Karen Michalak-Parsley said. “We are thrilled for them to receive this award and we’re excited to spend this special day with them.”
Recognition as a National Banner School is the highest honor Special Olympics affords to schools participating in the Unified Champion Schools Program. Ryle is one of two Kentucky schools to receive National Banner recognition for the first time this year and one of five Kentucky schools overall. Louisville Eastern High School joins Ryle as a first-time honoree this year while Bullitt East renewed the award it first won in 2019. Other Kentucky Schools to be recognized include Calloway County and East Carter High School were both named National Banner schools in 2018.
A Special Olympics Unified Champion School has an inclusive school climate and exudes a sense of collaboration, engagement and respect for all members of the student body and staff. A Unified Champion School receiving national banner recognition is one that has demonstrated commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence. These standards were developed by a national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community.
The primary activities within these standards include: Special Olympics Unified Sports® (where students with and without disabilities train and compete as teammates), Inclusive Youth Leadership and Whole-School Engagement. National banner schools should also be able to demonstrate they are self-sustainable or have a plan in place to sustain these activities into the future.
Ryle High School celebrates its Special Olympics Champion National Banner. (Photo provided)
More than 80 schools are currently participating in Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools programming in Kentucky, as part of nearly 9,500 schools across the country engaged in the program.
The Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools model is supported by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research, to be an effective and replicable means to providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.
Special congratulations go to Jill Rosen, head coach of the Club U program and athletic coordinator at Ryle High School. Rosen said earning the National Banner designation is a tough task with years of work behind it, but the Club U program had buy-in across the Boone County School district, from administrators to the athletic department to the student volunteers.
Governor Andy Beshear and his wife sent a congratulatory video message, Union, Kentucky’s mayor Larry Solomon declared Friday March 1st Unified Champion Schools Day in the City of Union. Also, Kentucky Senator John Schickel drafted a similar resolution for Ryle’s diversity and inclusiveness in Unified Sports.
