PWHS Unified Bocce shares fun of Unified Sports at special event
PWHS Unified Bocce shares fun of Unified Sports at special event
The Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (PWHS) Unified Bocce team recently received an invitation from Special Olympics of Pennsylvania to participate in a bocce event with members of the PHLY Insurance Group.
During the regular bocce season, the PWHS athletes pair with other student partners to compete. At the special event in October, the athletes teamed up with PHLY Insurance Group employees to play the sport, while their partners cheered from the sidelines.
This is the first year on the bocce team for Kamia Littlejohn, who enjoyed the event. “We did pretty good actually,” said Kamia. “I liked it a lot.”
“My favorite thing is the hype from the crowd, their cheering and everything,” added Logan Mayer. “Let’s go!”
The event celebrated PHLY Insurance Group’s partnership with Special Olympics and connected employees from different departments as a team building exercise.
PWHS junior Sophia VanCoillie
“The employees of PHLY Insurance couldn’t have been nicer. It made for a fantastic day,” said Amy Smith, an Instructional Assistant in the Life Skills Class at PWHS.
Special Olympics’ Unified Sports bring together people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities to play on the same team. The program is built on the principle that training together and playing together leads to friendship and understanding—traits that make the PWHS Unified Bocce team members good ambassadors for the program.
“My favorite thing about bocce is having fun and talking with my friends,” said Kayla Nelson.
“We were there to help express what Unified Sports means to our kids and why Special Olympics PA is so important,” said Dana Moyer, English teacher who coaches the team along with Social Studies teacher Jen Hannold.
Come see the PWHS Bocce Team in action this winter! The schedule has not yet been set, but once the schedule is finalized, it will appear on the PWHS athletics' site. Matches are held in Gym West at 3:30 p.m. As unified athlete Sophia VanCoillie says, "Come see how we roll!"
