Commitment to Inclusion

Please fill out this online form to participate in the Unified Champion Schools program and to become eligible for the Unified Champion School resources through Special Olympics Minnesota. This form is a formal expression of your school's commitment to inclusion, acceptance and respect of all students through the implementation of the Unified Schools program.

Unified Champion Schools is made possible by a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs and Special Olympics Minnesota. An important requirement for all Unified Champion Schools is to provide activity reports, including participant numbers and descriptions of events and activities. Reports are due throughout the year as a requirement to maintain the title of Unified Champion School.

The Unified Champion Schools program is a K-12, plus college age (which includes Transition programs), educational movement that unifies students with and without disabilities through Unified Sports, Whole School Engagement, and Inclusive Student Leadership. These 3 pillars provide participants with the knowledge, experience and skills necessary to create and sustain school communities that promote inclusion, acceptance and respect for all people regardless of ability level.

Please complete a separate form for each school if registering as a district.

Part 1: School Demographics

Grades served at the school*

Check all that apply.

School name*

School district*

Approximate # of students that attend your school*

School liaison name*

Liaison role in school*

Liaison email address*

Liaison phone number (primary)*

Liaison phone number (secondary - optional)

Name of administrator responsible for approval*

Administrator role in school*

School address*

Street Address Address Line 2 City State Zip code

Please check the following consent boxes.

Part 3: Consent and Waiver

Please read the text below and ensure that you understand the waiver points before submitting the form.

Consent*

I hereby certify that I have read the text below and that my school agrees to become a Unified Champion School.

Unified Champion Schools is a strategy to activate students, engage educators, and promote school communities of acceptance and inclusion where all young people are agents of change. Utilizing the sports and education initiatives of Special Olympics, students and faculty in Unified Champion Schools:

- Foster respect and dignity for people with intellectual disabilities
- Change actions and attitudes among their peers without intellectual disabilities

Unified Champion Schools is funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs and Special Olympics Minnesota. For over 50 years, Special Olympics Minnesota has evolved as more than an organization focused on just delivering sports training and competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities. We have become a part of a global movement relevant to all of us, where, through inclusive programming, young people with and without intellectual disabilities engage together using sports as the platform for community change and social impact.

As a Unified Champion School, you agree to participate in the following initiatives:

- Create an inclusive student leadership club that provides students with and without intellectual disabilities opportunities to promote Unified Chamipon Schools activities in the school and in the community
- Host at least 1 social inclusion campaign
- Provide the opportunity for at least 1 Unified sporting opportunity within your school
- Add the Special Olympics Minnesota Unified Champion Schools logo to printed materials, t-shirts, etc.
- Commit 1 teacher or staff member to be a Unified Champion Schools liaison—a point of contact for all Unified Champion Schools activities who will advise the students in projects, events and reports along with a leadership team made up of key faculty from various departments, student leaders and family members.
- Provide Special Olympics Minnesota with participant number reports along with pictures, stories and videos related to any Unified activities.
- Opt into receiving UCS newsletters as well as other relevant emails.

It is understood that Special Olympics Minnesota will provide:

- A partnership to help schools provide quality sporting opportunities for students with disabilities (section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, IDEA and ESSA)
- Consultation, education, support and resource assistance for all sporting programs and activities that promote inclusion, acceptance, respect and dignity for all students
- Resources to support school-based Unified Champion Schools activities
- Leadership training and networking for educational leaders and students
- Guidance on Special Olympics Minnesota and Unified Champion Schools policies and procedures, training manuals, schedules, paperwork and other initiative information

In addition, the school delegation will raise and expend funds under the name of Special Olympics Minnesota. The delegation school liaison will comply with the Centralized Accounting policies as determined necessary by the state office. All monies raised and expended in the name of Special Olympics Minnesota will be documented according to accounting policies and procedures set by the state office.

Notes or comments (optional)

Part 1: School Demographics

Part 2: Program Information

Part 3: Consent and Waiver