High school assemblies happen all the time. Students stroll down to the auditorium, listen to a boring speech and maybe a presentation - nothing special. But, every now and then, students run down to an assembly that turns out to be inspiring. And that is exactly what happened on January 20, 2015 at Michigan City High School.
Students filed into the auditorium, took a seat, and waited for everything to start. Principal Wendell McCollum let everyone know how long the presentation would go on and as usual, reminded everyone to behave. Then, he handed the microphone to Athletic Director Craig Shaman who introduced the presentation. Everything had been totally normal.
As soon as our first speaker, Craig Tornquist, took the stage, Michigan City’s assembly was transformed from average to fun. F-u-n. Not many people can get a giant room full of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors to be engaged and having a good time. Tornquist, a comedian who has performed over 200 stand up acts, had kids enjoying his activity.
In December 2013, the Indiana High School Athletics Association partnered with the Special Olympics to create a movement called ‘Champions Together.’ According to the IHSAA, Champions Together “promotes servant leadership among student athletes while changing their lives as well as the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.” As a student who attended the Champions Together assembly, I can vouch that it changes lives.
Champions Together is based on four pillars. The pillars are student-led leadership, creating awareness for those with intellectual disabilities, encouraging volunteerism, and last but not least, fundraising for the purpose of promoting the vision.
The activity was simple but surprisingly entertaining. He started with, “If you’re a female, stand up and clap twice!” Then, “anybody who likes rap music” or “enjoys athletics” did the same. This went on for nearly five minutes as students erupted with genuine laughter.
After the all of the students settled down, Tornquist introduced one of the most inspiring and influential speakers I have ever had the pleasure to listen to: Andrew Peterson.
Peterson started with a quote which spoke volumes about himself and his character. He said, “Let me win, but if I cannot, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Peterson was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and struggled with speech and physical activities as a kid. When he was little, others not only bullied him physically, but also acted as if he did not exist. After ten years of physical therapy and over six years of speech therapy, not only was he was able to run and walk smoothly, but he was good at it. After participating on the high school track team, Peterson began to stand out as one of the best Special Olympians in the country. In June 2013, Peterson dominated the 1500M, 3000M and 5000M running events to win golds in the USA Games held in New Jersey.
But his story does not stop there. Today, Peterson travels around his home state of Indiana to speak to students, just like those at Michigan City High School. Everywhere he goes, he cannot help but leave a lasting impression.
Though it is nearly impossible to follow a speaker like Andrew Peterson, Lee Lonzo, a Michigan City native, spoke about the benefits brought by people like Andrew. That is why Michigan City High School is creating a unified track team this spring. The team will have boys and girls, including both special needs students, and general needs students. Lonzo presented videos on relationships between special needs and general needs students created by athletics. The fun part is that you do not even have to be an athlete. If you do not want to run, that is totally fine.
Lonzo’s ending is what stuck, though. With the help of the Student Advisory Committee, the word ‘retarded’ or any form of it will be expunged from the vocabulary of Michigan City High School. So, at every lunch hour, students signed the banner and vowed to never use the ‘r-word’ again.
Stories about Champions Together can be found on their social media pages (Facebook: Champions Together; Twitter: ChampsTogether). Andrew Peterson is currently in the running to make the cover of “Runners’ World” magazine, and could use your vote to help him get there.