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UNIFIED FIELD DAY
- Makailah Meier
- May 1, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 9
Reese Stockman is a senior at CCA High School that had a big part in organizing and celebrating the first ever Unified P.E. Day!! In an interview, Reese Stockman explained Unified P.E. Field Day: “Unified Spring Field Day was essentially an event for our middle school, high school, and transition students with disabilities to be a part of. It was held on our football field where these individuals and a number of students peers got to take part competing and trying out various activities such as disc golf, distance throwing, kicking/throwing at targets, and running races. They also got to do some group activities like parachute and Just Dance. All of this was followed by an award ceremony for all participants. This event took place not only for these kids to experience something fun and for them, but also to simply spread awareness.” Stockman continued by sharing about her favorite part of the day: “I would say my favorite part of the day was seeing all the positivity of everyone present. Whether it was the participants themselves, their peers, our volunteers/staff, students in the stands, or parents. Everyone was happy, there were big smiles and lots of laughs throughout the day.” Finally, Stockman gave the ins and outs of the day: “The whole set up and planning aspect of it was about a nine month process. Granted I wasn’t going hard core for those entire months, but it took awhile to get everything permitted and all of the people/helpers involved informed of what exactly I wanted to do. Ms. Miller and Mrs. Kleinhesselink were both a huge help in the collaboration set up process, I could not have pulled this off without them.”
Ms. Miller also got her chance to share her thoughts about the day! Miller explained, “My favorite part of the day was probably the parachute. All 71 kids were at one spot together laughing and having fun!”
Holly Atkinson was one of the peers that participated in Unified Field Day. She shared her experience: “The whole track and field event was amazing. I have been friends with Paul for a few years now. Paul calls me his big sister all the time and loves doing any activities with me. While we were throwing softballs in buckets I soon took the lead. Paul wanted to beat me so bad that he started pushing me as I was throwing the ball in hopes I would miss the bucket.” Holly explained that Paul’s competitive nature carried on throughout the entire event. He was thrilled to receive a medal at the end of a wonder field day!
“Equality is leaving the door open for anyone who has the means to approach it; equity is ensuring there is a pathway to that door for those who need it.”
–Caroline Belden (Writer, ‘The Inclusion Solution’)
