(Source: Eagle Country 99.3)
(Versailles, Ind.) – South Ripley High School has done something that no other school in the state of Indiana has accomplished.
Champions Together and Special Olympics Indiana recognized South Ripley High School as the only Indiana school to win the National Banner twice as a Unified Champions School.
The Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program is aimed at promoting social inclusion through intentionally planned and implemented activities affecting systems-wide change in K-12 schools and across college campuses.
This is accomplished by implementing inclusive sports, inclusive youth leadership opportunities, and whole school engagement. Popular unified sports include track & field, flag football, basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and bowling, among other sports.
Students at South Ripley are also heavily involved in fundraising for the Special Olympics through the Fire Truck Pull every August and the upcoming Polar Plunge in February.
South Ripley was first recognized as a Unified Champion School in 2015. Four years later they earned their first banner as a National Unified Champion School, just a short time after their Unified Bowling Team won the state championship.
To learn more about the Unified Champion School program, visit https://www.specialolympics.org/what-we-do/youth-and-schools/unified-champion-schools.