Age Isn’t a Predictor for Success

Clement Coulston and Kaitlyn Smith are members of the Special Olympics Project UNIFY National Youth Activation Committee.  They were recently asked to co-author one of the 11 Practice Briefs, focusing on School Climate and Inclusion.  

Often times when society thinks of “valuable contributors” to issues, discussions and insights, the first image that appears in their mind is one of a well-educated and experienced adult; very rarely is that intuition one of a young person. Youth are constantly told and often led to believe that they are “the leaders of tomorrow,” but what about today? Youth are the ones in the schools, collaborating with educators, and hold the power to make a change.

The magic of Special Olympics Project UNIFY® is the belief in young people to identify challenges in schools, co-create solutions, implement these strategies and reflect on its impact.  Young people of all abilities have valuable insights and can contribute innovative ideas, but we must re-orientate our expectations of how their talent can be best utilized.

The National School Climate Center (NSCC) has worked with youth leaders, like us, from Project UNIFY and has seen our potential.  With our extensive experience and interest in areas concerning School Climate and Inclusion, the NSCC asked us to author a Practice Brief encompassing our experiences, thereby providing strategies and practices that students, educators and the whole school community can further advance.

Below are some of our favorite excerpts from this 4-page Practice Brief. We encourage you to take a deeper look – the brief can be found in conjunction with other briefs on equity and shared leadership here: http://bit.ly/YcXFnr

Inclusion is a set of best practices and shared values that meaningfully support the diversity that each person brings to the school.

Students are the ones who have the power to alter the school climate in either a negative or positive way, based upon their perception of what a school climate should feel like. Students hold the power to make it either socially acceptable or unacceptable to unite with their fellow classmates who have differences.

At the center of Inclusion is the notion that diversity is an ever-growing phenomenon that evokes a need for the community to cultivate global citizenship in today’s students.

Presenting at the Department of Education

Two weeks ago Special Olympics Project UNIFY had a meeting with the U.S. Department of Education, who has continued to support Project UNIFY for the past four years.  Each year we have a meeting with them to show what we have been doing and to demonstrate that Project UNIFY is truly making a difference across the country.  At this meeting, we had our University of Massachusetts Boston evaluation team there to present statistics from the year that provided research-based data.

In addition to sharing data on Project UNIFY, three youth leaders joined us in order to give the anecdotal proof that Project UNIFY is truly making a difference in our schools and communities. Read below to meet the three youth and learn more about their topics while speaking at the Department of Education:

Clement Coulson: The opportunity Project UNIFY gave him to be a youth leader and how he takes those skills and uses them in other organizations.

Click photo to read Clement’s comments.

Rachel Ward: Her experience at the Global Youth Activation Summit, which took place a few weeks ago at the World Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, and what it meant to her to be a leader within it and also how other countries implement Project UNIFY in contrast to the United States.

Click photo to read Rachel’s comments.

Samantha Huffman: What comes from inclusive experiences in school and how Project UNIFY has not only been life changing for her, but also many other youth.

Click on photo to read Samantha’s comments.

2013 Special Olympics Global Development Summit – The Youth Voice

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Clement Coulston and Rachel Ward, Global Youth Facilitators for the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit participated in the inaugural Global Development Summit, which gathered 300 world leaders from areas of government, business, education, economic and social development, media … Continue reading →

Reflection…What Does this Mean to You?

Is it a fancy word for answering questions? A time to fill out a survey with options (A), (B) or (C)? Or, is reflection a:

• Summation of one’s personal experiences, feelings and ideas, which influence the way he or she interacts with the world?
• Opportunity to synthesize new information, with one’s existing knowledge, thus identifying areas of congruity and areas of disparity?
• Springboard to deepen or modify one’s inner morals and principles, through surmising on topics that challenge us to craft our “personal opinion”?
• Learning moment when one shares his or her reflection with the group, painting a “clearer and inclusive picture” of the topic?

Today, Youth Leaders at the 2013 Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit, engaged in a Comprehensive Reflection Time, even though we have only participated in Four Youth Do Change the World Educational Sessions.  Rather than waiting until the end of the Summit to reflect, we allotted time so we can (1) celebrate our successes (2) identify our challenges and (3) create an action plan moving forward.

Through an interactive protocol, everyone was able to discuss these important questions, while meeting new people.  From the reflection, we co-created a list of seven action points, that we will incorporate throughout the rest of the Summit.  As you can see from these pictures, the value and creative expression from fellow youth leaders is nothing less-than amazing.

As young people, we are redefining how we can best support each other. As co-leaders, we are taking the roles of both teachers and learners. As advocates, we are committing ourselves to equity, inclusion and dignity for all People.

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A Call to Action – Ready to Share YOUR Story?

In history classes, students learn about the lives of our Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and even Benjamin Franklin.  Students discover the important contributions these leaders sacrificed in leading the Citizens of the United States of America, through times of happiness and sadness.  Each one of them had a unique personal message and perspective of this world.  Now I ask, “What is your story?”

When Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw the injustices, the exclusion and the inequities facing persons with disabilities, she founded a Camp to capitalize on the idea of “yes we can!” through engaging in sports.  For nearly 45 years, Special Olympics has grown from a vision to a reality, empowering more than 4 million Special Olympics athletes from over 170 countries.  Many initiatives such as Healthy Athletes, Spread the Word to End the Word, and Project UNIFY have strengthened our message of inclusion, acceptance and dignity for all people.

The United Nations Post-2015 Civil Society is part of a group of consultants from throughout the world, inquiring for our experiences as youth in today’s world.  The topic is on Young People and Inequalities and the last day for submissions is January 18, 2013.

Now is it YOUR Turn, to share YOUR Story!

We encourage you to:

1. Create an account which can be completed quickly.
2. Contribute to the online discussion about the inequalities facing Young People:
   1. Do we believe that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as people without disabilities?
   2. Do we co-create inclusive school environments that are supportive, respectful and equitable?
   3. Do we value that people of all abilities are assets that can contribute their unique gifts and talents to the community?
3. Follow @inequality2015 on Twitter; Tweet including the Hashtag, #inequalities2015
4. Activate your friends, family and the community to contribute too!

You may be thinking, where should I begin?  You can use the following paragraph to start your post, and then share your personal experiences from Special Olympics.

I am an advocate and believer in the Special Olympics Movement that provides opportunity and growth for persons with intellectual disabilities.  Through awareness and education, youth are co-creating equitable and inclusive schools, celebrating the talents and gifts of all people.  Through Unified Sports and Inclusive Youth Leadership, we continue to crush the barriers of exclusion and build communities of respect and inclusion.  We are thankful for the progress that has been made in making this world a more just place for all people.   We declare that more needs to break free from chains of hatred and initiate community bonds of acceptance and love. 

Thank YOU for your leadership and courage in taking action on our Dignity Revolution for all People!

We are United,

We are Committed,

And we ARE Agents of Change!

—

About the Author: Clement Coulston is a National Youth Activation Committee Member who is co-chairing a committee that is developing an Inclusive Youth Leadership Guide for high school students, and State YACs to engage, support and encourage this type of leadership.

“Our World, Our Future”: Youth Changing the World

About the Authors: Clement Coulston and Danielle Liebl are members of the Special Olympics Project UNIFY® National Youth Activation Committee. They recently attended the National Service Learning Conference to network, share and learn with other youth, teachers, and organizations throughout the world. 

In looking at the problems facing society today, one can grow hopeless and overwhelmed to address those challenges.  Too often, humanity looks at youth as energetic individuals, but neglects to utilize us as competent individuals to work to address societal issues.  Our community is at a loss from not making use of this untapped potential and creativity.

However, at the 23^rd National Service Learning Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we witnessed the power of youth engagement, passion for change, and leadership.  Many youth from various organizations gathered to raise awareness for various causes, like recycling programs and using sports as a catalyst for social change.  Experiencing and embracing youth leadership made us ponder how we often define the word, “leadership.” 

What does leadership mean to you?

Ability to take a stance?  The person who is academically talented, athletic, and popular?  These are some of the common descriptions people associate with being a leader.  We are going to propose to you a new perspective.

Through our work with Special Olympics Project UNIFY, we challenge the meaning of leadership to identify, utilize, and embrace the talent of each person to contribute to the community.  In the past, the input of youth with disabilities has been undermined and even unincorporated in many of the core activities at schools.  This has propelled us to evaluate how youth are integrated into the school to ensure each person not only has a voice, but are provided meaningful opportunities to be engaged!

We are shifting the paradigm of leadership from leadership of the few, to co-leadership, where each person is a leader by sharing their talents with the community.  We are  improving the educational system by including youth input.  We are providing a new perspective and unique proposals in addressing some of the problems faced today.

We challenge you to see your colleagues and peers as valued and talented individuals who have talents to share!  However, we must open our eyes to their ability, rather than look down upon their challenges.

We see talent and ability first, do you?