Inclusive Sports

Serendipity is defined as “the occurrence of fortunate, happy, or valuable discoveries by chance, especially when you are not looking for them.” The moment that Stacey Seals and Abby Tyra knocked on our front door to deliver my son Jack’s welcome bag for the start of high school at Limestone Community High School (LCHS) was truly serendipitous. These welcome bags were a tradition at Limestone, and the hand-delivery allowed teachers to meet members of the incoming class.

I was in my last few days of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we knew this tradition was planned for the day, so I was there with Jack when the doorbell rang. What we did not know at the time was how instrumental the two women on our porch would become. Stacey and Abby introduced themselves and shared that they are physical education teachers. Up until this point, Jack had been begrudgingly enrolled in a traditional PE class and was not looking forward to it, and his face said it all. The teachers went on to tell us about the Unified PE program at Limestone, and before we knew it, Stacey and Abby scooped Jack under their wings, talked with the counselors, and rearranged my son’s schedule a week before school started to allow him to be in Unified PE, and nothing has been the same since.

Jack was formally diagnosed as autistic at Easter Seals of Central Illinois before he turned three. That diagnosis felt heavy to me as a young mom, but what I did not know then was that everything that happened to Jack after that was because of that diagnosis. He received early intervention therapies, was enrolled in special education for preschool, had a robust individualized education plan (IEP), and later transitioned from that long-standing IEP to a 504 plan. That allowed him to fulfill his state physical education requirements through Unified PE.

Unified PE at Limestone is a unique opportunity for students, with and without disabilities, to be in a learning environment that is active, engaging, and most importantly, a whole lot of fun. This class is just one of the components that Limestone maintains to be designated as a Special Olympics Unified Champion School, an honor they have held since 2020. The PE teachers also coach Special Olympics Unified Sports® teams throughout the year, and these sporting events let students who might not be the most athletic or agile be the stars on the court or field. With their partners’ support, they score winning baskets and goals and hear the cheers of their classmates and community. But even more than class time and events, the student body at LCHS not only talks the talk but walks the walk of inclusivity. It isn’t just a week in the spring when the school celebrates those who are differently abled. Inclusivity is ingrained in the minds and hearts of every student at LCHS, and not just those who engage in Unified PE. There are high fives and hellos in the hallways and lunches spent together with peers that might not be in your circle. There are true and lasting friendships made between classmates who might not have ever met if not for Unified. It is worth noting that Limestone students, with the community’s help, have been rallying for the past 50 years to raise money for Easter Seals of Central Illinois. To date, more than $1.5 million has been raised to support the very organization that gave us that serendipitous diagnosis more than 15 years ago.

The involvement with Special Olympics gave Jack the incredible opportunity to become a youth leader on the Special Olympics Illinois Unified Generation Committee in 2024. Because he demonstrated dynamic leadership, he was selected to serve as a co-chair of the committee. Jack enjoyed that position so much that it fundamentally shaped his future goals. He will attend Monmouth College on a President’s Scholarship this fall, majoring in strategic communications and public relations, with the hope of one day working for Special Olympics Illinois.

We won’t ever know what Jack’s high school experience would have been like if he hadn’t been on Stacey and Abby’s list that day in August. But a moment of serendipity occurred, and nothing was the same after that.