Fossil Ridge: let’s unify through Unified

This September, Fossil Ridge High School was honored by the Colorado Special Olympics as housing the best Unified Sports program of the year statewide. They will be recognized on October 14 by being added to the Special Olympics Hall of Fame for their involvement.

The school joined the project last year and kicked off with a Unified Basketball team. This year, the program created a flag football team, and the first game of the season was held on September 22 at French Field. Differently-abled students on the Unified team were able to train for their season with the high school football players in order to learn strategy and plays that are used on the field by the FRHS team.

The Unified Team fought a hard battle but barely lost to Rocky at French Field. The next football game will be held on Saturday September 30, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on the Fossil Ridge field. The program will have a basketball team again this year as well. It also supports track events through the Special Olympics, which are typically held at FRHS in the spring for the entire district.

Although the program was honored with this prestigious award, it has become apparent that many students are not as invested in the program as the Unified Athletes. At the first flag football game against Rocky Mountain High School, only 6 fossil students showed up. “I mean I would love if many people came to our games; Fossil Ridge students. We deserve as much praise as the other teams,” said senior Jake McCartney, a Unified athlete, in a recent interview after the first flag football game. “They love being in the spotlight and this is their big game, and it’s just as important to them as the big rivalry games are to other athletes,” said Pappas.

It is apparent that the support means the world to these kids, as McCartney said in his interview and a few of the kids have expressed to Ryland Pappas, the president of Fossil Friends. “Their energy on the field is so much more when they have people to play for because they feel supported,” said Ryland Pappas who is highly involved in the program that focuses on getting special ed students involved in the school.

So how do we Unify around the Unified students? According to Ryland, “It starts in the hallways and the interactions at school. It’s important to make sure they feel included in the school.” Papps said in order to create an atmosphere of support around these students, we need to be there for them: supporting the kids in the halls, going to their games, and cheering them on.

Unified Flag Football captains lining up

Photo Credit: Ryland Pappas