Cook County Unified Club will be heading to the state bowling tournament this November, but it needs some help. It doesn’t have a name.
Last year I.S.D. 166 became a Special Olympics Unified school. Fifty kids joined, said Melisa Skeate Oberg. She and CCHS counselor Kris Hoffman work with the kids, and so far the program has been a great addition to the school, she said.
Special Olympics Minnesota has an inclusive school program which CCHS joined. It is funded by the Department of Education and seeks to foster inclusive relationships between students with and without disabilities. Goals are to promote acceptance, respect, dignity, and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities or people who are perceived as different.
Oberg said seven kids would bowl at the Superior Incline Station in Duluth on November 9.
“This is the first time that any of these kids has been on a team. The Grand Marais Lioness bought them shirts and right now they are choosing which number to put on the backs of their shirts. They are very excited to participate in the tournament.”
Because there is no bowling alley in Cook County, the kids are practicing in the gyms, and a YMCA hallway, said Oberg.
“Pam Taylor has taken adaptive phy ed kids to Silver Bay once a year to bowl, so the kids have been into a bowling alley and bowled before,” Oberg said.
But before the kids can bowl, they need to have a name.
“If anyone comes up with a good name for our kids, that would be great,” said Oberg. “If they want to donate financially, we could always use some help for buses and meals.”
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