Matt Aaron, president of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, said walking through the doors of Plum High School felt different.
He was there Wednesday to present the students and staff with a banner recognizing the school’s unified sports teams, which is a joint program with the Special Olympics that integrates students with and without disabilities to compete in bocce and track-and-field.
“It’s almost in the air,” Aaron said. “When you walk in the door, something feels different. The way you’re greeted, the way people interact with each other, it feels different.”
Plum was one of four new schools in Pennsylvania to earn the honor.
Baldwin High School and Armstrong Jr.-Sr. High School as well as a school in Montgomery County were also recognized.
To earn the banner, schools must apply to the national Special Olympics organization and meet 10 rigorous standards of excellence, according to Aaron.
And on Wednesday, the high school’s entire student body — around 1,200 Mustangs — packed the school’s gym to celebrate the recognition with several rounds of tug-of-war and speeches.
Gina Dessell, a special education teacher who also heads up the unified bocce and track squads, is one of the sponsors of Plum’s “Best Buddies” program, a club for students with and without disabilities to socialize and form friendships.
She said the honor was the result of “a lot of hard work.”
“We got our banner because of all of the achievements we’ve done here between our sports, our ‘Best Buddies,’ and our students,” Dessell told TribLive through tears.
During the assembly, Xavier Alexander, a student with an intellectual disability on the bocce and track teams, told his gathered peers he loved them all and received raucous applause in reply.
Xavier’s mother, Brandi, said the unified programs as well as “Best Buddies” have helped him to make friends and participate in sports for the first time.
The junior runs the relay and 100-meter dash and throws shotput, according to Brandi.
“The whole program has helped him a lot,” she said. “He loves everyone at the school, and everyone loves him.”
Brandi said she feared Xavier would be bullied, but she has found the exact opposite at Plum. The unified programs, she said, make students without disabilities more accepting.
“I will never leave Plum Borough,” she said. “I’m really proud of the school.”
Unified teams offer many students with disabilities, Xavier among them, their first go at athletics, Aaron said.
And off the field, he said, the programs create a positive climate and culture in the district.
“(The programs) are important because they help everybody achieve their potential. So many times with our athletes with intellectual disabilities, we see they’ve been told, ‘no’ their entire lives,” Aaron said. “Special Olympics is an organization that says, ‘yes’ and gives them a chance.”
Plum High School will hold the banner until 2028, when it can reapply for the honor.
And until then, Dessell is only planning to expand programs and deepen friendships.
On Thursday morning, for example, more than 100 high school students leaped into a freezing pool as part of a “Polar Plunge” to raise money for the Special Olympics organization.
“I always like to keep our student body engaged and active, so we’ll definitely continue doing what we’re doing and get more involved as we can,” Dessell said.