Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia held the 2017 Fall Unified Youth Summit on Tuesday, October 17th at Dave & Busters in Philadelphia Mills mall. Over 100 students attended from local high school to prepare for the upcoming school year. Participating schools included Abraham Lincoln High School, Audenreid Charter, CAPA, Frankford High School, Furness High School, George Washington High School, Kensington High School, Martin Luther King High School, Parkway West High School, School of the Future, and Thomas Edison High School. The vision of the 2017 Fall Unified Youth Summit is to inspire and motivate all attendees to create a more inclusive school community through Unified Clubs and effective, creative Whole School Engagements.
The day started with welcoming remarks from Alex Christy, Manager of Interscholastic Partnerships, Bettyann Creighton, Executive Director of Health, Safety, Nutrition and Physical Education, and Matt Aaron, President & CEO of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. After welcoming remarks, our students let loose by socializing through bowling. While bowling, students were prompted into conversation with a list of questions that would assist them in preparing for the afternoon’s workshops. Bowling wrapped up with lunch and final discussion points. After lunch, the schools were split into two groups to work on how to strengthen their school climate. One session was how to run a successful Unified Club where students discussed what they were doing well and what they could improve in their school and how their Unified Club could plan activities that would improve their school climate. The second session was how to work with individuals and groups successfully. Students took a quick quiz that let them know what their communication style was. Afterward, like-styled students were grouped together and groups practiced the best way to work with each of the other groups in the room.
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