Griffith High School today was named the 2024 ESPN Honor Roll recipient for Indiana. Each year, ESPN and Special Olympics North America honor one school from each state that goes above and beyond in creating a culture of inclusion, advocacy and respect for students with and without intellectual disabilities.
Griffith and six other Hoosier high schools in August received national banner recognition from Special Olympics North America. These schools earned this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence developed by a panel of national leaders from Special Olympics and educators.
Along with Griffith, the schools earning national banner recognition were:
- Blackford Jr/Sr High School
- Carmel High School
- Fort Wayne North Side High School
- Lafayette Jefferson High School
- Mooresville High School
- Valparaiso High School
The primary activities within these standards include inclusive youth leadership opportunities, whole school engagement and Special Olympics Unified Sports®, where students with and without disabilities train and compete as teammates. Utilizing these three interconnected components has been shown to create accepting school environments.
More than 500 Indiana schools currently participate in the Unified Champion Schools® program. They are part of 10,000 schools that take part nationwide.
The Unified Champion Schools® model is supported by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research, to be an effective and replicable means of providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.
Learn more about the program at SOindiana.org/unified-champion-schools.