ROCHESTER — As Mayo High School student Ethan Vega walked up to the platform above a tank of icy water during this year’s polar plunge, everyone watching started chanting his name.
“Eee – THAN!”
“Eee – THAN!”
Basking in the glow of the moment, he vaulted off the platform and plunged into the water below. In the time since the school started the tradition several years ago as a fundraiser, Vega has become one of the unofficial stars of the show.
The event has become a big deal for the school, drawing students and staff alike, not to mention personalities from outside Mayo. But despite its success, it’s ultimately just one of the ways the school has begun weaving general and special education together. That work is being driven by the school’s Unified Program, which pairs the two student groups together for various class periods.
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“Our goal is that it carries over into the hallway,” Special Education teacher Colin Thomas said. “We’re trying to help our students with special needs become more part of the Spartan community so when they walk in the hallways, they’re keeping their heads up looking for high fives — they’re looking for their friends.”
The Unified program started a handful of years ago when a former student who had a brother with special needs asked about the possibility.
It didn’t take off until the COVID pandemic when everyone switched to distance learning. In an era of chaos and uncertainty, Wednesdays were set aside for students and teachers to catch up rather than having standard classes. That meant the program had a chance to reach the school when everyone was free from other commitments.
And thus it began in earnest. Gathering online in the weird world of virtual school, the Unified program came together for events like talent shows and Pictionary.
Today, the school’s Unified program takes place in many ways. In the morning, students with different abilities gather together for Unified art class. Later in the day, they gather in the school’s gym for Unified PE.
Even at schools without Unified programs, special education is provided on a spectrum depending on the needs of the student. As much as possible, students with special needs are kept in general education classrooms with their peers and then receive special education as needed.
The Unified program, however, is different from mainstream classrooms that just happen to include students with special needs. In Unified classes, the students actively help their peers, working together through whatever task is at hand.
Last week during Unified PE, the students were doing a challenge where one person would close their eyes while another person had to explain how to navigate a series of obstacles on the ground.
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High-need students with Autism Spectrum Disorder gathered in a separate room during the PE hour. Special Education teacher Mo Willaert would read the description of a word, prompting a race between two different tables. Students would sift through a hodgepodge of laminated pictures to find the one that matched Willaert's description. The Unified partners, which is what teachers call the gen-ed students in the program, would hustle their special education counterparts to the front of the room to stick the picture to the board.
After the race ended, Mayo Senior Hayden Mathern held out his phone face up, allowing a student in the ASD program to listen to Florida Georgia Line sing “Simple,” an anthem about ignoring all the distractions in life to focus on what matters.
Huddling over the same phone while listening to Florida Georgia Line wasn't part of the curriculum. Nonetheless, it still personifies the overall goal of the Unified Program: breaking down boundaries. Recognizing each other’s humanity. Swaying your head with a friend to the beat of the same song.
“I have seen this class change the lives of students who take it,” Adapted PE teacher Andrea Bacon said. “Some general education students go on to study special education, which they credit Unified PE as the catalyst for prompting their career choice. Others come back to visit, just to tell me that Unified PE was their favorite class in high school.”
Thursdays are a highlight of the program. That’s when the Unified Club gathers in Thomas’ classroom simply to have a good time. Last week, Thomas walked into the room with a load of snacks: donut balls with sprinkles, muffins, and packets of cereal.
“What kind of music do you want?” Thomas asked a student as he walked into the room.
“Uhhh … 2010s,” the student responded.
Moments later, a speaker started thumping out “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons. More students started filing into the room, and the atmosphere soon became more akin to a weekend party than a classroom at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday.
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One table was playing a game of Uno. Another couple of students were playing Mario Kart on a TV in the corner.
Just outside the classroom in a cross-section of hallways, a student Jovanny Torrez was dribbling a basketball. Thomas snuck up and stole the ball from him, taking it in his own direction, prompting a brief moment of competition between the teacher and student.
Thomas was wearing loud yellow shoes that had Uno cards on them … a reference to the school’s Unified program.
For the last three years, they’ve held a joint bowling day with John Marshall and Century high schools.
The initiative doesn’t come without challenges, including that of funding. But that’s where the polar plunge comes in handy. So, once a year, they gather in the parking lot outside Mayo High School to jump-start their heart rates by plunging into freezing water to fundraise for the program.
Wearing a straw cowboy hat and a Minnesota Wild jersey, Thomas kicked things off by dumping a bucket of ice into the tank with all the flourish of a chef throwing a dash of spice into a boiling pot.
There are few who manage to escape the icy water. Overall, roughly 200 people jumped into the tank this year: counselors and athletes, teachers and the school resource officer. Everyone from Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson to RPS Superintendent Kent Pekel committed to take the plunge. Thomas jumped in with his daughter Hope — straw cowboy hat included.
But before any of them stepped up to the challenge, Ethan was the first to jump. After all, with 400 people chanting his name, he was one of the unofficial stars of the show.
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“Eee – THAN!”
“Eee – THAN!”
"Ethan lives for the plunge; it's his jam," Thomas said. “That’s Ethan’s moment to shine.”
The Trust Project
