Submitted By: Charlene Golden
Kiwanis Aktion Club Receives Grant Towards Unified Sports
The Kiwanis Aktion Club of Lehigh Senior High School wrote a grant to the Kiwanis Florida Foundation to help their Unified Sports program get the needed equipment for various teams. The grant was for $911.00.
Unified sports are for students with and without intellectual disabilities and can be played as co-ed. Some sports are at the FHSAA Varsity level just like typical high school sports. Others are played at a community level, and some can be played on both levels.
The 2023-2024 Unified Sports at Lehigh Senior High School are:
Unified Bowling (FHSAA)
Unified Flag Football (FHSAA and Community)
Unified Basketball (FHSAA and Community)
Unified Cornhole (community)
Unified Tennis (FHSAA)
Unified Soccer (FHSAA)
Unified Track and Field (community)
Unified E-Sports (National Community)
They want the athletes to feel important with some new equipment rather than just all hand downs. They also wanted to show unity among the sports by creating a travel shirt all teams will wear. Each time a participant plays a sport, they can add a logo of that sport onto the back to show how they are spreading inclusion. Their goal is to promote inclusion and create new opportunities for all students.
Most of their sports provide an opportunity to compete out of their county providing another positive experience for their participants. They get to stay in a hotel room over night with a peer buddy and are closely supervised by coaches and chaperones. Currently, all their sports have been coached primarily by three Lehigh Senior High staff members, Michelle Smith, Chelly Ramon and Kendris Mathews. They are actively getting others qualified and assisting with chaperoning their sports or helping to coach.
Michelle Smith is the faculty advisor for the Kiwanis Aktion Club at Lehigh Senior High School. Laura Lucha, is the Aktion Club president and a junior at Lehigh Senior High School.
In the award picture:
Laura Lucha; Michelle Smith; Damon Shelor, President of the Lehigh Kiwanis Club; John Woolston, Foundation Trustee; and Jerry Liddle, Past President of the Lehigh Kiwanis Club.
