CONGRATULATIONS! West Seattle High School gets national recognition for Unified Sports program

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West Seattle High School has received a national honor from Special Olympics for its Unified Sports program (which brings together student athletes with and without disabilities). We received the announcement from WSHS’s Unified Sports coordinator Rachel Myers:

WSHS is being recognized as a Special Olympics National Banner Unified Champion School.

WSHS demonstrates their commitment to inclusion and shown determination in achieving the collective goal of creating a truly “Unified Generation” of young adults who embrace differences and lead social change! We could not have done this without the hard work and support of our alumni and current WSHS students and staff! We are excited and honored to join the 1,014 schools across the country and the FIRST SPS school to receive this level of recognition!

Here is the official letter from Special Olympics North America and Special Olympics International.

This is a HUGE accomplishment for our school, district, and community! We will be receiving a banner to celebrate this accomplishment at a ceremony in the Spring at WSHS!

Myers explains that “Schools that receive this recognition have demonstrated the 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.”

Melissa A September 24, 2024 (10:01 am)

Congratulations WSH! What a wonderful honor!

Proud Alum September 24, 2024 (11:06 am)

Thank you for sharing this great news. As a WSHS Alum and a parent of a class of 2024 Unified Sports Athlete this program was new to me. I experienced the power of team sports through a fresh lens and it was awesome. Thank you to the WSHS Athletic Department for your dedication to the program, my son was very fortunate to participate also a big thank you to Pricipal Vance who created a time to practice on the students schedule. Go Unified and Go Westside!

Proud WSHS parent September 24, 2024 (12:28 pm)

Reply

I am so proud of everyone at WSHS who contributed to this. Thanks for helping make this a great community for everyone!

Parent September 24, 2024 (11:30 am)

This is awesome news! Even prouder to support my public school athletes knowing they are part of such an inclusive community. Let’s go Westside!

Sam September 24, 2024 (2:03 pm)

That’s me with the Unified team. I might be helping Coach that team this year.

Disability Visibility October 4, 2024 (4:43 pm)

This is a wonderful achievement that only begins to convey the dedication of Unified coaches in Seattle Public Schools. It takes work. For parents, it can be the first time they’ve seen their student included in sports and sometimes that’s not until high school. Congratulations to WSHS and Rachel Myers and the staff that support her and the team. (And Ingraham Unified BB is gonna be strong this year!)