This year-long ASL Club is made up of students in grades 9-12 who are passionate about learning and experiencing the beauty of sign language and Deaf culture. The goals of the club include: fostering a love for ASL, expanding cultural awareness, building connections and making a difference. 

This ELO will afford students the opportunity to participate in the following activities:

• Peer PE class and Unified Flag Football

• Peer Art where students will assist with the creation of holiday ornaments.

• Peer Tech Ed where students will engage in new projects such as screen print.

• Peer Music a collaborative project with a musical organization in the Pittsburgh area.

• Peer Buddies where students will continue to work with students with disabilities within the school coffee shop. 

High School students expressing an interest in a career in special education will be assigned a mentor teacher and have the opportunity to assist students with special needs in the elementary and middle school life skills, autistic support/emotional support, and learning support classrooms throughout the academic year. 

Students in the culinary program at Cumberland Perry Area Career and Technical Center run a twice monthly year-long mobile shop at various locations offering drinks, pre-packaged snacks, and specially prepared breakfast and lunch items with input from students with special needs and support from interns from Shippensburg University.

Secondary and post-secondary students will have a minimum of four opportunities across the academic year to work alongside students with disabilities to introduce them to the various vocational programs and assist with the identification of vocational areas of interest. 

The Peer Buddy program will provide social support and guidance to students with special needs and social experiences and empathy for individuals who may have differing needs and perspectives. 

This opportunity will run during the Spring 2025, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026 semesters to coincide with the instructional ELO being offered.

Secondary students with and without disabilities will assist in the development of a unified student store by creating a simple business plan, presenting the concept to the Claysburg-Kimmel Board of Education, and developing an action plan to open The CK Store at the junior-senior high school during the 2024-2025 academic year. A store management team will be created to budget, purchase, and sell spirit items. 

Every Spring, the DeSales University chapter of Best Buddies plans and hosts activities for high school students with disabilities. This is a fantastic extracurricular club that allows university students from all majors to volunteer to work throughout the academic year. This ongoing club provides a perfect opportunity to expose students across the university to working with students with disabilities and considering a career in special education.

Recognition for students selecting an educational career in special education and related areas needs to be celebrated and recognized. Two new recognition initiatives will be incorporated across all APR activities in 19+ school districts. Light Blue graduation cords, universally representing education, will be distributed to all graduating seniors who have elected to go into education. 

Secondly, any high school student committing to the field of education at one of the member local education agencies will have an official signing day similar to an athletic signing day. ESU will also conduct a pinning ceremony for those officially in the ESU education programs. School officials, mentors, families, and other guests will be invited.

These newly created courses will be made up of both general education students and students with low incidence disabilities. General education students who are interested in going into the field of special education would be the target. These courses will be offered to students for credit during their junior year, making them eligible to participate in dual enrollment courses during their senior year.  

This program aims to foster an inclusive environment where all students feel valued and supported. Students with special needs will collaborate with their grade level peers to compete on a bocce ball team throughout the school year. This opportunity will help with the development of social skills, teamwork, and mutual support amongst participants. Students with special needs will benefit from the guidance and encouragement of their peers, while those without disabilities gain a deeper understanding of inclusivity and empathy. 

General McLane School District and Special Olympics will partner to provide a brand new Unified Sport to Pennsylvania. Interscholastic Unified Strength and Conditioning team competition. In partnership with Special Olympics the sport would be offered during the fall season 2024. This pilot will be used as a test to gather information, showcase to other districts around the state, and provide a model so that during the 2025-2026 school year the program can be rolled out to the rest of Pennsylvania. It provides students with and without disabilities with a fully inclusive, enriching, and competitive high school sports experience on an interscholastic team. They practice and compete together as equal peers over the course of a 10-week season. Through these close interactions as teammates, relationships are fostered, attitudes change, and friendships emerge. 

Students in 9th and 10th grade who have expressed an interest in the field of education will be a part of an after school club, led by our Director of Student Activities, which will create after-school activities and events that are accessible for all students, but specifically for students with disabilities. Each student will lead at least one activity each month under the guidance of a teacher mentor. Providing new and accessible activities and events for students of all ages supports the district vision of ensuring that we are empowering every students' passion, purpose, and path.

Students will be matched with a peer buddy and engage in social activities that build meaningful relationships and promote inclusion. Future special educators will learn to facilitate and support inclusive recreational activities, gain skills in Unified Bocce, and understand the benefits of physical activity for students with disabilities. These opportunities promote teamwork, communication, and social interaction. 

Best Buddies Club will include unique learning opportunities throughout the school year such as participation in Beaver County Special Olympics, working the school store, helping in classrooms, and being a buddy for students at lunch, and other times during the school day. 

Students and Young Athlete coaches will create field days and other activities on campus that postsecondary students can participate in. Immaculata students will engage with Young Athlete Participants in beginning sports skills and team building activities at Immaculata University. 

This experiential learning opportunity involves students who are potential future special educators and students with disabilities working together in a greenhouse or aquaponics lab aims to provide a rich, hands-on educational experience. This project is designed to teach sustainable agriculture practices while fostering inclusivity, empathy, and practical skills among all participants.

Secondary and postsecondary students interested in the field of special education will work alongside students with disabilities to share in social interactive activities during four after school sessions per year. The events will be facilitated by faculty, their students, and Moravian University's education department’s honor society, Kappa Delta Pi. 

Unified Sports will provide students an opportunity to work with students with disabilities as they compete on interscholastic teams.

High school students will work alongside experienced and seasoned special education teachers in grades kindergarten to 12th+ grade, including learning support, autistic support, emotional support, life skills support, and multiple disabilities support programs. Students will get hands-on experience working in these various settings with students of varying disabilities. They will also have the opportunity to lead the class in activities with the support of their mentor.

This club will provide inclusive opportunities to students and staff. While it won’t be a competitive team, the team will hold internal matches. Prior to teaching the game of bocce ball, the coaches will meet with students without disabilities to teach them about people-first language, understanding disabilities, and appropriate ways to interact and support students with disabilities.

The Unified Track and Field team will provide students with and without disabilities the opportunity to compete against other schools and teams in the area.

Students with and without disabilities will participate in events during the school day and in the evening.

Future special educators will engage in learning experiences by actively planning and executing a school business venture. This will be a student-driven initiative by both students with and without disabilities.  The school-run business ideas that the teams will explore with the future special educators are a beverage shop, a food pantry (in collaboration with community agency supporters), and a retail store (with student-created manufactured products) that will connect local businesses in the community.

This ELO will pair Point Park education students and secondary students with students with special needs at Pittsburgh Conroy Education Center within Pittsburgh Public Schools. Pittsburgh Conroy Education Center provides a range of services to students ages 5 thru 21 who have life skills support, autistic support, and multiple disability support needs.

Pottstown High School will partner with Best Buddies International in order to create various social opportunities for students with disabilities and general education students in order to interact, build relationships and empathy, and discover more about working with people with disabilities.

552 secondary students (grades 6-12) will engage with the Mikayla's Voice programming. This year-long programming includes two inclusion assemblies, an inclusive art project with unveiling and installation, and ongoing activities for secondary students to read stories and share inclusive principles with elementary age children in the district. Mikayla's Voice encourages kids to be kind, to reach out to others and embrace their differences. Mikayla's Voice strives to promote diversity and inclusion for all.

The Rising Educator program is a multiyear sequence of College In High School (CIHS) courses cross-walked to PDE-CTE teacher education competencies.  The integration of core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge and skills provides students with a pathway to postsecondary education and teaching careers.  

Based upon course content delivered during the CIHS instructional sessions, Rising Educator students will apply their knowledge and skills as they interact with and assist students with disabilities in the classroom setting (PreK - 12), extended school year programming, and during the Best Buddies community activities. 

Secondary students will be invited to take part in Inclusive Unified bocce teams where they will work with the life skills students to compete in bocce.  Two teams will be created consisting 3 special needs students and 5 regular education students.  This will be done in coordination with the Inclusive Leaders Club, a group of general education and special education, 9th -12th graders that will work together to plan social events and fundraisers to help support inclusive activities.

This experiential learning opportunity will provide HS students in 9th and 10th grade who are not yet able to enter the dual enrollment program, to gain experience and insight into the field of special education by serving as team leaders in the "Panthers with Purpose" program.  

Each team leader will lead a group of students that includes students with disabilities and without disabilities.  The group will seek to have equal numbers and create social groups for students with disabilities.  The group will convene twice per month and will engage in a social activity after school (i.e. going to a school athletic event and sitting together, hosting an after school team building event, watching a movie, etc.).  10th grade students will host the HS groups, and 9th grade students will host the MS and ES groups.

Selinsgrove Area High School will develop a student club called Seal ABILITIES. The club will be for students that are interested in learning more about individuals with disabilities and inclusive practices. The club will provide opportunities for students to learn about disabilities and the law, types of disabilities, and provide school-wide education about inclusivity by working closely with special education teachers and students that receive special education services. 

General education students will gain social opportunities to connect with special education students through inclusive programs such as:

• Driver's Education Peer Mentoring Group,

• Transitions - TEACH TOWN Peer Mentoring Group, 

• Rock Coffee Shop - High School coffee shop, 

Through this programming and Best Buddies Programming - students will build one-to-one friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), offering social interactions while improving the quality of life and level of inclusion for a population that is often isolated and excluded. Interscholastic Unified Sport Opportunities - Bocce, Track and Field Unified Club - Whole school engagement opportunities through Special Olympics PA Wellness Across the Spectrum Event - 5 K inclusion Run / Community Event

The school district will collaborate with Partners in Progress, a local organization that supports individuals with disabilities with a variety of services.   The grant will focus on their Camp Partners opportunity.  Camp Partners is an integrated day camp that operates during the summer. A wide range of youth ages 5-21, with and without disabilities attend.  The day camp offers age appropriate activities such as team sports/games, arts and crafts, swimming, academics and snack.

Special Ed-vantage students will be encouraged to volunteer with the day camp and connect with individuals with disabilities in a setting outside of school.  Students will need to volunteer at camp a minimum of 2 days during the summer.  Camp facilitators will receive a small training on the expectations for students volunteers and how to encourage their engagement with people with disabilities.

Susquehanna Township School District will create a multi-faceted mentoring program that introduces learners at the middle school, further expands hands-on opportunities at the high school, and offers internships for post-secondary students. Middle school students will be invited to participate in inclusive school programs and activities and can benefit from assigned high school mentors who will share their experiences.  

High schoolers will be offered opportunities to work with individual students directly in their classrooms through the cadet teaching program and to tutor/mentor students from the district’s adaptive life classes. Select graduates who have committed to the pursuit of special education careers in post-secondary studies will be encouraged to apply for internships that will jumpstart their future career choices.

 The SU chapter of Best Buddies consists of an enrollment of approximately 50 college students and their buddies from the local community and personnel associated with this grant proposal. The plan for this ELO is to recruit more members, approximately 10 per year, through recruitment at the beginning of each academic year and semester.

This opportunity focuses on attracting current secondary students to explore Special Ed. Career pathways by establishing Peer Mentor programs in their high schools. This will provide secondary students the knowledge and skills to work alongside students with disabilities in areas beyond academics. 

Penn State Harrisburg Peer Mentors will go onsite to high schools to provide training and share their experiences with high school students. Secondary students will come to campus to shadow Peer Mentors and receive additional Peer Mentor training.   Training and seminars will be provided in two high schools in each year of the grant for participating high school students and on campus at Penn State Harrisburg. 

This ELO will include information on career pathways in special education and eligibility requirements for admission into teacher certification and special education certification programs.

General education students, including those particularly interested in working with individuals with disabilities, participate in general education elective courses alongside students with disabilities.  Unified Art, Unified Music, and Unified PE have already existed within the high school environment.  All general education students are assigned as a “helper” to a peer with a disability.  Instruction has been provided informally on the role of a helper and understanding how to support their peers, however, this will be expanded upon for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years to include dedicated time during the high school Flex period when students will participate in training delivered by a special education teacher and the general education teacher for the courses.  

These structured training opportunities will provide general education students the information needed to know how to best support their peers with disabilities and provide insight into the world of special education and disability awareness. 

 Additionally, the high school will be adding Unified Technology Education course for the 2025-2026 school year, which will continue to expand opportunities for general education students to work with peers with disabilities.

This ELO, the WASHS project will implement a new, exciting program for Peer Mentorship and expand a small cookie-making program within our special education high school curriculum.  

The Peer Mentorship program will recruit regular education students as peer mentors for special needs students. Peer mentors will be trained during and after school on effective communication, empathy, and strategies for supporting students with diverse needs. Regular interactions between peer mentors and special needs students will take place during school hours.   

WASHS plans to strengthen the existing program by providing additional resources and supplies. The program will collaborate with regular education students and local businesses/bakers/shops to have workshops and guest sessions. Lastly, this exciting program will encourage special needs students to actively participate in baking, decorating and packaging cookies for sale through various school and regular student-sponsored avenues.

Unified Sports within West Allegheny has grown from one bocce team to two bocce teams during the 2022-2023 school year. Secondary students will continue to interview with staff in order to participate in Unified Bocce competing against districts regionally and across the Commonwealth. As a part of Unified Bocce, students work together as teammates to encourage and instruct each other on leadership and teamwork, while enhancing their bocce skills. Students meet weekly to prepare and practice for their upcoming matches. This year, West Allegheny would like to expand Unified Sports to include mentoring middle school students while extending play against other districts.  

West Allegheny SD will also work in partnership with two local districts and a global technology company to launch Unified Robotics with our secondary students. The students will complete with peers from other the districts in a collaborative manner. Secondary students will engage in leadership activities requiring them to work in teams and build upon previously acquired knowledge.

West Allegheny High School has run the West A Cafe as a mentorship program for several years, recently expanding to serving faculty and students. Future special educators will now be responsible for creating and monitoring measurable goals for their peers with disabilities, specific to competitive employment.

The West A Cafe will be operational at HS, MS and elementary levels, through the life skills and autistic support programs. West A HS students will monitor skills of students with disabilities with the guidance and oversight from current educators at West Allegheny. 

This ELO will provide future special educators opportunities for education on individualized education programs (IEPs) and the skills and knowledge to work alongside/support students with disabilities in activities beyond academics.