On October 17, 2018, Jefferson University hosted the 2018 Unified Youth Summit with the theme of “Make Inclusion a Lifetime Trend.” Students gathered to learn how to work together with students with different personalities, how to be a leader who actively includes and motivates others around them, how to conduct successful Unified Club meetings, and tactics for fundraising. Participating schools included Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin, Edison, Frankford, Furness, George Washington, Hill Freedman World Academy, Kensington Health Sciences Academy, Martin Luther King, Northeast, Sayre, The School of the Future, Strawberry Mansion, and Universal Audenried Charter High Schools.
The program had kicked off with remarks from Chase Trimmer, Director of Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia, James Lynch, Executive Director of Athletics at The School District of Philadelphia, and Matt Aaron, President and CEO of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. During welcoming remarks, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln high schools were recognized for being Unified National Champion Schools. Once the opening remarks wrapped up, students split into groups with a facilitator from Jefferson Athletics. Throughout the morning, Jefferson student-athletes lead students through various activities to help them become better leaders within their school. Students started by sharing activities in their school that were student-led and student-driven. Next, each group was able to come up with new Whole School Engagement activities and create a plan for it. Students then learned the importance of how Spread the Word to End the Word (STW) and Respect campaigns are a good way for them to get more attention.
The activities took a break for lunch where the students were able to speak freely with one another in their groups and get to know each other better. Once lunch ended, students learned about the 2018 Philadelphia Polar Plunge and how they could participate in the Cool Schools Plunge. The Cool Schools Plunge is for high school students from around the city to support Interscholastic Unified Sports Programs (IUS). During the event, students partake in an educational activity followed by a plunge into icy waters. They also discussed various fundraisers which they could do to support their participation in the Cool Schools Plunge. Overall, the students who attended the 2018 Unified Youth Summit were able to leave Jefferson University with the knowledge on how to raise money for an important cause and how to lead their schools in becoming more inclusive.
Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia’s 2018 Unified Track & Field Championship was held on Monday, May 7, 2018, at the South Philadelphia Supersite. It was the perfect day to celebrate our athletes, partners and coaches and all the hard work they put on during the 2018 IUS Track & Field season. Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia Director, Chase Trimmer, kicked things off by welcoming everyone to the event and announcing the winning school would get a chance to compete at the PIAA Track and Field Championship in Shippensburg, PA. After some welcoming remarks, the five schools entered through the parade of athletes. Schools participating in the second annual Philadelphia Unified Track & Field Championship included George Washington High School. Hill Freedman, Martin Luther King High School, Northeast High School and host South Philadelphia High School. Special Olympics PA Board Member, Tony Gillespie joined us for the day and offered luck to all athletes and partners competing. Margaret Lasseter and Tra Griffin from South Philadelphia then lead the athletes and partners in the Special Olympics athlete oath of “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. Following the athlete oath, Coach Regina Johnson from Martin Luther King High School lead the coaches in the Coaches Oath of “I promise that we shall, take part in these Special Olympics games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them. In the true spirit of sportsmanship. For the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.” After Margaret and Tra came back up to officially declare the Unified Track and Field Championship open, the crowd erupted in applause and athletes and partners got ready to compete.
The 100-meter dash kicked off the Championship. As athletes raced down the track, South Philadelphia’s cheerleading squad was there to cheer them onto strong finishes. The 100-meter dash was followed by the 400-meter race and the 800-meter race which showcased the long distance runners of each school. After these track events, athletes split up to participate in one of three field events – long jump, mini javelin, or shotput. Each field event saw some great jumps and throws by both athletes and partners alike, with some creating a new personal record for themselves.
GW – George Washington High School, HF – Hill Freedman, MLK – Martin Luther King High School, NE – Northeast High School, SP – South Philadelphia High School
| School | A/P | Name | Time | Place |
| SP | Partner | Tracesaan Griffin | 12.06 | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Darius Hunter-McLean | 14.28 | 3 |
| NE | Partner | Fransico Correia | 13.41 | 2 |
| HF | Partner | Kayla Marshall | 14.78 | 6 |
| HF | Athlete | Tahlik Moon | 12.12 | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Justice Saunders | 14 | 5 |
| NE | Partner | Pedro Alicea | 12.2 | 2 |
| HF | Keith Jones | 12.53 | 3 | |
| NE | Partner | Caio Desouza | 12.17 | 4 |
| SP | Partner | Vaten Pridgen | 13.8 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Ryan Caldwell | 14.91 | 4 |
| HF | Partner | Aniya Gentles | 13.79 | 2 |
| SP | Athlete | Nasir Martin | 13.63 | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Joseph McGinley | 14.91 | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Johnathan Aguliera | 15.46 | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Semaj Glover | 13.69 | 2 |
| SP | Athlete | Maragret Lassiter | 15.63 | 4 |
| NE | Partner | Andra Silva | 12.37 | 1 |
| NE | Athlete | Samirah Stevens | 15.5 | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Destiny Goldmas | 15.79 | 2 |
| MLK | Athlete | Ludiner Chery | 17.29 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Aaron Wilson | 16.16 | 1 |
| MLK | Athlete | Dandre Young-Conner | 19.66 | 5 |
| NE | Athlete | Maria Trinidad | 16.28 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Nicholas Delgado | 16.2 | 2 |
| NE | Athlete | Alysha Hawkins | 17.54 | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Kassim Rollerson | 19.13 | 5 |
| GW | Athlete | Brandon Taylor | 17.07 | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Jordan Scott | 17.85 | 4 |
| MLK | Athlete | Ojay Harris | 15.79 | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Dominic Maffei | 17.72 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Anthony Le | 21.28 | 6 |
| GW | Athlete | Oluwasegen Sodeke | 21.28 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Zachary Zimri | 20.16 | 2 |
| HF | Partner | Jihara Richardson | 16.78 | 1 |
| NE | Athlete | Karen Luong | 25.9 | 5 |
| NE | Athlete | John Zhen | 22.34 | 4 |
| HF | Athlete | Khyree Scott | 29.72 | 3 |
| NE | Athlete | Chris Chandler | 21.91 | 1 |
| NE | Athlete | Savanah Ayala | 22.12 | 2 |
| NE | Athlete | Adam Loai | 30.63 | 4 |
| NE | Athlete | Falu Anthony | 32.37 | 5 |
| GW | Athlete | Mitchell Cafolla | 41.43 | 6 |
| School | A/P | Name | Time | Place |
| MLK | Athlete | Jasir Newsome | 1:02 | 2 |
| SP | Partner | Ibrahim Cisse-Karamoko | 1:00 | 1 |
| MLK | Partner | Thomas Bell | 1:05.22 | 1 |
| HF | Athlete | Russell Shelton | 1:08 | 3 |
| HF | Partner | Ariel Odom | 1:19.00 | 4 |
| SP | Athlete | Reggie Blanton | 1:06.78 | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Peter Pulukchu | 1:17.28 | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Ronald Pierre | 1:24.63 | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Faheem Rucker | 1:16.15 | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Jasmine Addison | 1:28.72 | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Kwesi Quainoo | 1:08.34 | 1 |
| MLK | Athlete | Zhaire Harris White | 1:16.00 | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Juan Espinosa | 1:08.38 | 2 |
| MLK | Partner | Nagid Sawyer | 1:13.28 | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Maurice Griffin | 1:18.81 | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Christian Moreno | 1:22.97 | 3 |
| HF | Athlete | Laurance Warner | 1:20.34 | 2 |
| MLK | Athlete | India Grierson | 1:31.50 | 4 |
| HF | Athlete | Iyana Sipes | 1:31.84 | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Leyla Kamilova | 1:43.06 | 3 |
| MLK | Partner | Taylor Calloway | 1:29.50 | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Elizabeth Vicario | 1:43.66 | 1 |
| SP | Athlete | Joseph Polizzi | 2:28.43 | 4 |
| NE | Athlete | Uwase Mutoni | 1:45.32 | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Daika Douze | 2:00.00 | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Trevor Thompson | 3:10.00 | 6 |
| NE | Athlete | Samuel Godoi | 3:08.85 | 5 |
| School | A/P | Name | Time | Place |
| SP | Partner | Arisode Intwali | 2:24.86 | 1 |
| NE | Athlete | Isais Aponte | 3:22.42 | 1 |
| MLK | Athlete | Precious Ford | 3:40.60 | 3 |
| SP | Athlete | Charles Galvani | 3:36.76 | 2 |
| Teams | Time | Place |
| GW 2 | 1:06.50 | 4 |
| GW 1 | 1:03.97 | 3 |
| SP 1 | :58.34 | 1 |
| HF 1 | 1:01.75 | 2 |
| MLK 1 (Boys) | 1:07.91 | 2 |
| HF 2 | 1:08.34 | 3 |
| NE 1 | 1:07.50 | 1 |
| Team | Times | Place |
| GW 1 | 4:38.41 | 1 |
| MLK 1 | 5:26.90 | 3 |
| SP 1 | 4:56.41 | 2 |
| NE 1 | 5:40.03 | 4 |
| School | A/P | Name | 1st Attempt | 2nd Attempt | 3rd Attempt | Place |
| GW | Athlete | Joseph McGinley | 6′ 4.5″ | 4′ 8″ | F | 2 |
| SP | Partner | Abudullah Ali | 7′ 11″ | 7′ | 7′ 4″ | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Peter Pulukchu | F | 10′ 9.5″ | 9′ 2″ | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Faheem Rucker | F | 10′ 10″ | 11′ 1.5″ | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Kayla Marshall | 9′ 9.5″ | 10′ 2″ | 9′ 4″ | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Juan Espinosa | 9′ 9″ | 11′ 7″ | 12′ 4″ | 3 |
| MLK | Partner | Taylor Calloway | 7′ 11″ | 8′ | F | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Kwesi Quainoo | 13′ 3″ | 14′ | 14′ 9″ | 2 |
| MLK | Partner | Thomas Bell | 14′ | 15′ 3″ | 14′ 7.5″ | 1 |
| School | A/P | Name | 1st Attempt | 2nd Attempt | 3rd Attempt | Place |
| GW | Partner | Mitchell Cafolla | F | 4′ 6″ | F | 5 |
| GW | Partner | Anthony Le | 6′ 6″ | F | 17′ 3″ | 2 |
| HF | Athlete | Khyree Scott | 9′ 8″ | 7′ 10″ | 5′ 8″ | 3 |
| GW | Partner | Oluwasegen Sodeke | F | 8′ 11″ | 8′ 5″ | 4 |
| NE | Partner | Matisse Barrett | 20′ 11″ | 24′ 8″ | 26′ 5″ | 1 |
| MLK | Athlete | Zhaire Harris White | 22′ 4″ | 20′ 4″ | 15′ 4″ | 3 |
| GW | Partner | Jordan Scott | F | 32′ 11″ | 21′ 4″ | 1 |
| MLK | Athlete | Trevor Thompson | F | 23′ 5″ | 23′ 7″ | 2 |
| NE | Athlete | John Zhen | 11′ 8″ | 15′ 3″ | F | 4 |
| MLK | Athlete | India Grerson | 23′ 9″ | F | 10′ 2″ | 2 |
| HF | Athlete | Laurance Warner | 22′ 7″ | 22′ 4″ | F | 3 |
| HF | Partner | Sammy Donnie | 26′ 7″ | 28′ 7″ | 21′ 2″ | 1 |
| HF | Athlete | Tahlik Moon | 54′ 3″ | 39′ 8″ | 44′ 10″ | 1 |
| SP | Athlete | Alvin | 34′ 7″ | 23′ 2″ | F | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Ronald Pierre | 19′ 8″ | F | F | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Kassim Rollerson | 22.7″ | 23′ 11″ | 24′ 11″ | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Maurice Griffin | F | F | F | P |
| GW | Athlete | Aaron Wilson | 28′ 7″ | 21′ 6″ | 23′ 6″ | 3 |
| GW | Partner | Tiffany Sourovelis | 19′ 9″ | 18′ 5″ | 21′ 4″ | 4 |
| MLK | Athlete | Precious Ford | 24′ 11″ | 34′ 11″ | 27′ 4″ | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Leyla Kamilova | 32′ 8″ | 29′ 6″ | 27′ 4″ | 2 |
| SP | Athlete | Antonio Burnett | 22′ 4″ | 36′ 10″ | 39′ 11″ | 4 |
| GW | Partner | Yesenia Lebron | F | 44′ 5″ | 41′ 10″ | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Jasir Newsome | 25′ 9″ | 24′ 7″ | 36′ 9″ | 5 |
| HF | Partner | Christian Moreno | 58′ 7″ | 60′ 7″ | 63′ 5″ | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Justice Saunders | F | 50′ 3″ | 47′ 10″ | 2 |
| MLK | Athlete | Semaj Glover | 27′ 11″ | F | F | 4 |
| HF | Partner | Destiny Goldmas | 37′ 7″ | 46′ 10″ | 32′ 4″ | 3 |
| SP | Athlete | Andre Thach | 40′ 7″ | 34′ 1″ | 56′ 3″ | 1 |
| GW | Athlete | Johnathan Aguliera | 38′ 9″ | 53′ 11″ | 54′ 3″ | 2 |
| HF | Athlete | Mike Ellis | 58′ 7″ | F | 73′ 5″ | 1 |
| NE | Athlete | Jordan Ganges | 57′ 9″ | 29′ 6″ | 41′ | 3 |
| MLK | Partner | Isaiah Collins | 69′ 5″ | 57′ 5″ | 60′ 6″ | 2 |
| NE | Partner | Fransico Correia | 70′ 8″ | 74′ 9″ | 74′ 2″ | 2 |
| HF | Keith Jones | F | 57′ 6″ | 51′ 5″ | 4 | |
| NE | Partner | Andra Silva | 57′ | F | 70′ 3″ | 3 |
| MLK | Partner | Nagid Sawyer | 47′ 1″ | 78′ 2″ | 66′ 3″ | 1 |
| School | A/P | Name | 1st Attempt | 2nd Attempt | 3rd Attempt | Place |
| HF | Athlete | Mark Robbins | 5′ 11″ | 5′ 10″ | 5′ 3″ | 4 |
| NE | Athlete | Chris Chandler | 7′ 1″ | 8′ 1″ | 7′ | 3 |
| GW | Athlete | Brandon Taylor | 7′ 7″ | 9′ 11″ | 11′ 11″ | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Elizabeth Vicario | 12′ 1″ | 14′ | 15′ 5″ | 1 |
| GW | Partner | Dominic Maffei | 13′ 9″ | 12′ 9″ | 12′ 5″ | 5 |
| NE | Athlete | Adam Loai | 14′ 3″ | F | 15′ 10″ | 3 |
| NE | Athlete | Samirah Stevens | 15′ 11″ | 15′ 9″ | 15′ 8″ | 2 |
| MLK | Athlete | Ludiner Chery | 20′ | 18′ 11″ | 19′ 3″ | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Jihara Richardson | 14′ 7″ | 14′ 6″ | 14′ 11 ‘ | 4 |
| HF | Athlete | Sean Washington | 17′ | 17′ 1″ | 21′ 1″ | 3 |
| MLK | Athlete | Dandre Young-Conner | 16′ 5″ | 18′ 11″ | 18′ 5″ | 5 |
| HF | Partner | Aniya Gentles | 16′ | 17′ 5″ | 21′ 4″ | 2 |
| GW | Athlete | Zachary Zimri | 18′ 5″ | 19′ 2″ | 17′ 6″ | 4 |
| GW | Athlete | Nicholas Delgado | 23′ 4″ | 22′ 1″ | 21′ 3″ | 1 |
| HF | Partner | Eiyreana Alford | 19′ 9″ | 22′ | 21′ 4″ | 3 |
| NE | Athlete | Isais Aponte | 21′ | 22′ | 22′ 1″ | 4 |
| SP | Athlete | Matthew Webb | 22′ 2″ | 24′ | 20′ 3″ | 2 |
| MLK | Athlete | OJ Harris | 45′ 10″ | 43′ 9″ | 43′ 5″ | 1 |
| HF | Athlete | Mikhale Chisolm Brown | 33′ 1″ | 28′ 7″ | 33′ 11″ | 4 |
| SP | Partner | Arturo Jimenez | 36′ 7″ | 37′ 6″ | 36′ 8″ | 3 |
| NE | Partner | Caio Desouza | 37′ 5″ | 34′ 7″ | 37′ 9″ | 2 |
| HF | Partner | Darius Hunter-McLean | 43′ 4″ | 44′ 9″ | 45′ 8″ | 1 |
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