Inclusion and Empathy Through the Unified Champion Schools® Program

At Richfield Middle School (RMS), we have taken a significant step toward fostering inclusion and empathy with the launch of the Unified Champion Schools® program, a partnership with Special Olympics Minnesota. This initiative, now in its first full year, creates intentional opportunities for students with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities to learn, grow and build friendships together.

 “When we think of inclusion, oftentimes we’re including students with intellectual or developmental disabilities into what’s already happening,” explained Nicki Keen Dawalo, the RMS social worker. “And oftentimes the subject matter has to be scaffolded down for them to be able to access it. The Unified Champions Program flips that model. In a Unified class, the course is designed with the special program students’ needs in mind – we call them the ‘teammates’ – and then our general education students, which we call ‘partners,’ participate to support and learn alongside them.”

The general education students (“partners”) in the Unified FACS class are all students who chose to be there after learning about it from a presentation during Advisory. Abby, a Special Olympics athlete, visited RMS and shared her personal journey, which also inspired some of the students to sign up. Anyone who was interested in being in Unified FACS completed commitment forms, ensuring they understood and embraced the program’s goals.

Harper, an eighth-grader in the Unified FACS class who is one of the partners, has enjoyed the class and said it has helped her form connections with students she didn’t know before. “We work in groups that rotate every few weeks, and I’ve built new friendships in each one. Now, when I see my teammates outside of class, I always stop to say hi, or they will come say hi to me at lunch and give me a hug,” she said. “It makes me happy when they are excited to see me outside of class.”

The program has been impactful for both partners and teammates. “After a couple of months, I started thinking that Unified should continue in the high school next year,” Harper said. She emailed the principal of RHS, Principal Stacy Theien-Collins, with her thoughts. Thanks to Harper’s initiative, the administration is bringing the Unified program to Richfield High School starting in the 2025-26 school year! 

The program began with a Unified FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences) class designed to focus on life skills such as cooking, sewing, reading and following instructions, crafting and teamwork. The idea to become a Unified Champion School emerged early in 2024 and is a collaboration with Nicki, Compass teacher Leah Wheeler and FACS teacher Lisa Leiknes, along with the RMS administration.

The program’s success is a testament to the collaborative effort of RMS staff and leadership. Nicki is grateful to Principal Barlow and teachers like Ms. Wheeler and Ms. Leiknes for their dedication. “You need leadership at every level to make this work,” said Nicki. “We’re fortunate to have a team that’s willing to jump in and fully support the program.”

Looking ahead, RMS plans to expand the Unified Champions Program with a Unified STEAM class in the spring semester and continued leadership opportunities for students. “Our goal is to make RMS a more inclusive place for everyone,” said Nicki.

We are excited about this new initiative at Richfield Middle School and can’t wait to see where it goes!