This spring, Special Olympics Minnesota partnered with Minneapolis Public School Transition Plus, a program that provides post-secondary education and training to students with intellectual disabilities, to create opportunities for inclusion after high school. Transition Plus students traveled to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus where an excited group from the UMN Unified Club greeted them. The UMN Unified Club is a Special Olympics club made up of students who are passionate about inclusion. The students participated together in a wide variety of activities and games from snowshoeing to bowling to kickball, creating new friendships and connections all the while.
After high school graduation, students with intellectual disabilities are often excluded in their new post-graduation communities. While students may have found a home within Unified in high school, what happens next?
This new partnership between UMN and Transition Plus aims to challenge this narrative, and it is just beginning!
Special thanks to the Loppet Foundation for supporting this partnership!