Almost one in five students at Westside High School has been involved in a Westside Unified sport or activity. That makes Unified one of the biggest and most successful programs at Westside, but it was not always so big.
The Westside Unified program,“bring[s] students with and without intellectual disabilities together to promote a positive school climate, develop physical fitness, prevent bullying, enhance student engagement, and promote student leadership skills,” according to Westside Community Schools.
Westside’s program has been nationally recognized as a Banner Unified Champion School. To receive this recognition, schools must incorporate and sustain unified sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole-school engagement.
Zane Cozad is a special education teacher at Westside High School who leads the peer mentoring program and many of the Unified activities.
The growth of the Westside Unified program over the years is significant. In 2020, according to Cozad, there were around 10-12 students in the program, between peers and students with disabilities. Today, the program’s number of combined total participants is more than 450 students, although some students participate in multiple activities.
“The main difference between then and now is that when it first started they only had their typical meetings every other week or once a month and then one trip to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. The Unified program has added participation in the [homecoming] parade float, a Unified Friendsgiving, a Unified movie night, a Unified talent show, a trip to Worlds of Fun, participation in the Polar Plunge, the Step up for Down Syndrome Walk, etc.,” Cozad explained.
Currently, Westside offers a wide range of Unified sports and activities. For example, NSAA-sanctioned Unified sports available at Westside include unified cheer, unified track, and unified bowling. Unified track has had about 40-50 athletes/partners in the past few years and bowling has had about 15-20 students.
In addition, Westside currently offers two Olympic Unified sports: flag football and basketball. Other activities and clubs include the general Unified club with about 150 total students, Unified book club, and peer modeling, which has more than 200 peer models. There is typically a two-to-one ratio of students without disabilities to students with disabilities.
Cozad said his favorite part about the program “is seeing people from such a wide range of backgrounds come together to create positive and meaningful relationships. It creates an environment of acceptance and inclusion that makes everyone feel valued as a person and ‘seen.’”
Another strong part of the Unified sports program is Sparkles cheer, which currently has 14 students and 19 peers. They can be seen on the sidelines of home varsity football games during the first half, and also at home varsity basketball and volleyball.
Hannah Livingston is a freshman at Westside and is a member of Sparkles Cheer.
Livingston said that her favorite part about being a cheerleader is “getting to cheer with all the other cheerleaders and all the fun cheers we do with everyone at the games. Being at the games is so exciting.”
The Sparkles team also participates in competitive cheer. Last year, the team placed runner-up at the NSAA cheer state competition in the Unified division in Grand Island.
Cozad credits part of the program’s success to support from Westside administration and leadership.
“We have been fortunate enough to have support from the top. It’s difficult to have a quality program in anything you do without support from the top down,” Cozad said.
Of course, the key ingredient is the students themselves.
Sam VanderVeen is a senior and a member of the Unified program, specifically Unified basketball and football.
“It’s really fun to be in,” Sam said.
Camille Muse is a junior involved in flag football through Westside Unified.
“It’s fun,” Muse said.
In addition to the fun reported by the students, many say that Cozad and other dedicated staff members set the tone for the program. They add that the Unified staff truly teaches and models what it means to have an inclusive environment at Westside.
Alice Cartwright is a very involved sophomore in Unified member and peer modeling.
“Mr. Cozad makes Unified feel like home! His kindness and compassion creates a very welcoming, successful atmosphere where everyone feels welcome and included at Westside High School,” Cartwright said
Even with its success so far, the Westside Unified program plans to continue growing and has big goals ahead. Cozad said he hopes to get the program out into the community more and connect with other schools. Many are excited to see how Westside Unified expands into more sports and activities and builds an even stronger community in the coming years.
