Building Belonging Award

Wa-Hi’s Unified Blue Devils program receives Building Belonging Award

Tuesday night school board members honored the Walla Walla High School Unified Blue Devils Program with a Building Belonging Award.

The Building Belonging Award is a student recognition program aligned to the district’s "We All Belong Here" unity message promoting a civil, safe and compassionate learning environment. The "Building Belonging" Recognition Award recognizes students who promote activities that create and sustain a sense of belonging, fairness, and justice for all students. Equity and Dual Programs Department Director Dr. Julie Perron coordinates the Building Belonging Award program.

The Walla Walla High School Unified Blue Devils Program is a student-led club providing the leadership component of the school's Unified sports, which is a part of Special Olympics. This group of students, with and without disabilities, promotes inclusion and belonging by supporting Unified robotics, basketball, soccer and sponsor activities for students of all abilities. They promote and recruit students of all abilities to play and work together through our Unified program.

The club leadership is represented by students of all abilities. The Unified robotics program built and programmed three robots and competed against Garrison Middle School. The school's basketball team played Othello, Moses Lake and Grandview during the winter season. The soccer team is practicing and will play Othello and Grandview later this spring. Currently, the group is planning WWHS' Unified Inclusion week that will be held the last week of May. The week will include lessons on inclusion during Advisory, a pledge for students to sign at lunch, bracelets for inclusion and a lot of fun activities to promote acceptance and inclusion at Wa-Hi. This is the first year of Unified sports at Wa-Hi. This Blue Devils club is growing and is a great addition for promoting inclusion on campus.

Instrumental in starting Unified:
Staff: Libby Thompson, Krystal Ceron, Chris Ferenz
Students: Katlin Presler, Sydney Tureman, Dannika Stilson, Aiden Arevelo, Israel Saldana, Sophia Ceron, Hayden Baynes, Molly Knight, Abigail Castellano, Jasmin Noland, Damien Daniel, Derrek Bergevin, Sophie Beam, Felicity Matson, Adan Romero Jimenez, Paige Morrisette, Jake Nelson