BIG Things are Happening in the UCS World!
Join in on the FUN with UCS this month!
Keep reading below to see more information about the following:
- Respect Orders are Due December 15!
- Tell us your thoughts on the Youth Activation Summit
- Unified Basketball Office Hours - January 6th
- Registration for the Youth Leadership Certificate is OPEN!
- Unified Fitness Registration!
- Unified Bowling Recap
- 2022 Unified Bass Fishing Update
- UCS Dates and Deadlines for the Year!
- Add to Your To Do List: Follow UCS on Social Media!
- Virtual Office Hours
- Tell us something good!
- Meet the SOILL UCS Team!
Respect Store Orders Due Tomorrow!
For schools with a completed commitment letter, our Respect Store is OPEN! Have you completed your 2021 – 2022 Commitment Letter yet? Yes-If so, thank you! If not, please do so here. If we do not have a 2021 – 2022 Commitment Letter on file for your school by the deadline, we will not process your Respect order. Each school with a valid Commitment letter on file is eligible for $200 of Respect Materials of their choosing. Please note, the following ordering guidelines should be followed:- Schools may not utilize the $200 to purchase more than 5 short sleeve t-shirts.- Schools may not utilize the $200 to purchase any long sleeve t-shirts.- If your order is over $200, you will be asked to pay the difference prior to finalizing your order.- If your order is under $200, you will forfeit the remaining balance.- Schools may not use the $200 for a school wide t-shirt order.- If looking to place a school wide shirt order, do not send the store link out. Please place 1 bulk order.- Individual orders should not be placed. If one comes through, we will contact you to pay an additional shipping fee. The Respect order deadline is Wednesday, December 15th. No orders may be placed after that date.
https://willpromo.com/soill_inclusion/shop/home
Here is your Coupon Code: ILL200
Questions? Contact us at UCS@soill.org
SPRING - eSports Registration Open!
Registration for the 2022 PlayVS eSports Spring Season will officially be open Wednesday, December 15. Join schools across the country in a multi-week Rocket League season beginning on February 2, 2022. New this year, PlayVs will be offering two ways to participate for the eSports league – We encourage any school interested in competing in eSports in 2022 to register for either of these options:
1. League Play: This option is available for schools who desire a semi-competitive experience through ongoing matches with other schools. 10-12 week seasons that consist of 3 weeks of optional pre-season, an 8-week required regular season and 1-2 weeks of playoffs. Teams are expected to attend weekly matches at the regular time scheduled by PlayVS.
2. Scrimmage Play: This option is for schools looking to get started with a more developmental approach but cannot yet commit to a full season. These Unified teams will register with PlayVS, but will NOT officially enroll in the Unified league. Once registered, Coaches will have the opportunity to schedule scrimmage matches through the PlayVS platform with other Unified teams at their own agreed upon dates and times . This option is also known as “scrim-only”.
Registration can be found via this link:https://www.playvs.com/so-unified. Questions regarding the Spring Season, or anything regarding eSports – Contact Mac Dougan at mdougan@soill.org
How was the Youth Activation Summit?! Let us know!
Please complete an evaluation of the Youth Activation Summit. Here is a link to answer a few questions and let us know what you think: https://forms.gle/UREnmsGjWQbGLdz19
Please make your evaluation NO LATER THAN Wednesday, December 22nd. We want YOUR feedback!
It's Unified Basketball Season!
Join us for UCS Office Hours on Thursday January 6th to go over all things Unified Basketball!
Register today by clicking the link below!
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://soill.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsfu6rqDwqGNV6eOifRFMcsD8wol-aCHd-
Registration for the Youth Leadership Certificate is OPEN!
We are so excited to share with you that the Youth Leadership Certification will again be offered as a virtual initiative for your athletes and students. This initiative is a joint effort between IHSA and Special Olympics Illinois. Students from both the IHSA Student Athlete Committee and the Special Olympics Illinois Youth Activation Committee have worked together to put this program in place. This group of amazing student leaders will be presenting the content for their peers! For those students that participated last year, this year comes with all new content and a way to enhance their leadership skills. We are offering this program free to all students, both with and without disabilities. At the completion of this program, your students will earn a Youth Leadership Certificate. The certificate of completion will be emailed to each student individually as they complete the course. In May we will provide each school principal and athletic director a listing of students that complete the certification if you would like to recognize them as part of your leadership recognition program. This is a great item for them to put on their resumes and college applications!
This program will be run from December 1- April 15. Students simply need to let us know of their interest by completing this simple google form. Each student who signs up will be sent a link to Canvas where the lessons are housed. The student will need to create an account and will have access to the leadership lessons. Each lesson that the student will go through, there will be 10 total, will include a 40-60 minute lesson with a quiz at the end. They must achieve a 7 out 10 correct to move onto the next lesson. Rather than release lessons on a timed basis all lessons are open and available for individuals to go at their own pace. The only requirement is that lessons be complete prior to April 15th to receive the digital certificate.
Here’s where we need your help! Would you please help us publicize this amazing opportunity for all students at your school? Here is the link for students to register for the leadership certification:
Unified Fitness Registration is OPEN!
Virtual Unified Fitness Registration is open! Feel free to register your group today!
Not sure what Unified Fitness is? This opportunity is perfect for any unified group looking to get moving! Each group receives 3 work outs a week - Strength, Cardio, and Recovery - and are invited to join us once a month for a Live Workout run by our Unified Fitness Committee.
This opportunity can be adapted to whatever works best for your group! Whether you meet once a month or daily, Unified Fitness is the perfect way to get moving.
BONUS: For every roster that meets a 1:1 ratio of Unified Partners to Athletes and has all of their paperwork turned in (Class A's, Med Forms, Athlete Consents, etc.), each individual on the roster will receive a personal Fitness Equipment Kit!
If you have any questions, email us at ucs@soill.org
Unified Bowling!
This past weekend we hosted 3 Unified Bowling Competitions across the state! On Friday, December 10th, Region D hosted Chicago Public Schools Unified Teams. On Saturday December 11th schools participated in Addison and Peoria. Congrats to all of our Unified Bowling teams!
Feel free to send us your unified bowling pictures at ucs@soill.org.
2022 Unified Bass Fishing Update
If you are interested in securing a boat then please let Tracy Hilliard know and she will send you the Commitment Memo. Priority for boat slots will go to schools that are already registered as a Unified Champion School with Special Olympics Illinois. Slots for non-Unified Champion Schools will not be confirmed until after February 4.
Please note that the special needs student(s) selected for Unified boats MUST have valid Medical & Consent Forms on file with Special Olympics Illinois. Special Olympics Illinois will confirm eligibility at the time the school requests a Unified boat slot.
You can find our 2022 Unified Bass Fishing Flyer here and the 2022 Unified Bass Fishing Fact Sheet here.
Questions? Contact Tracy Hilliard at thilliard@soill.org.
SOILL Nutritional Guidelines Development Survey
Special Olympics Illinois has teamed up with the Illinois Public Health Institute to develop nutrition guidelines to help ensure SOILL provides healthy food and beverage options to athletes, families, staff, coaches, volunteers and fans. Your input in developing these guidelines is very important to us!
Click here to complete our survey.
This survey should take no more than 5 – 10 minutes to complete. Please answer the survey only for yourself and your experiences. Your answers will be kept anonymous and no identifying information will be collected unless you enter your contact information at the end of the survey (follow-up about volunteer opportunities). Participation is completely voluntary and will not affect your status with SOILL in any way.
Input from our stakeholders (athletes, coaches, staff, families, etc.) will help us develop tools, analyze food practices and develop nutritional guidelines that will be adopted and implemented at SOILL events.
The survey will be open until October 31st
*made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administered by the Illinois Public Health Institute in collaboration with partners in the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity.
Questions? Contact Carolyn Cronin at ccronin@soill.org
UCS Dates and Deadlines for the Year
We have a TON of exciting things going on this year - we know! And we are as thrilled as you are.
To make your lives easier, we have created 2 ways that you can keep up to date with all of our Dates and Deadlines for the year.
The first way is through a Google Calendar that contains all of our Dates and Deadlines pertaining to anything Unified Champion Schools related. This includes Unified Sports, Youth Leadership, and Whole School Engagement opportunties.
You can access this calendar here.
The second way is through our Policies and Procedures file. This file house a Fact Sheet that has all of the date and deadlines for our Unified Sports throughout the year.
You can find this Policies and Procedures file here.
We will always do our best through our Newsletters, email communications, and social media to keep you as up to date as possible on upcoming dates and deadlines for all things Unified.
Questions? Contact us at ucs@soill.org
Add to Your To Do List: Follow UCS on Social Media!
We are utilizing social media as a means to get out the most up to date information and promotions for all of you and your students.
Be sure to give us a follow to learn about up coming events, virtual opportunities, raffles, and so much more!
Follow us on Instagram here!
Follow our UCS Facebook page by clicking here.
Follow our Young Athletes Facebook page by clicking here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel here.
Questions? Contact us at UCS@soill.org
Virtual Office Hours!
If you have questions, comments, need support, or just want to touch base, join us on Thursdays at 3:30pm! (Join Here!)
Tell us something good!
We want to hear from you! Share your success stories with us about distance learning and how you stayed connected during the school year! Please send your stories to UCS@soill.org so that we can share your experiences with the rest of the community!
Meet the SOILL UCS Team!
Jennifer Kelso is the Director of Youth Initiatives with Special Olympics Illinois. She has worked with Special Olympics since the early 2000s and has developed the Young Athletes and Unified Champion Schools programs across the state. She currently oversees all High School and college programming. Jennifer can be contacted at jkelso@soill.org or 847-207-8997
Jillian Hosteny has been with Special Olympics Illinois since 2018 and is the Assistant Director of Youth Initiatives. Jillian works with all Pre-K, Elementary, and Middle Schools across the state. She can be contacted at jhosteny@soill.org or 630-426-1390.
Working with us in Region D is Melissa Garritano. Melissa comes to us from CPS and is currently the Director of Region D Outreach with Special Olympics Illinois. She is the contact for all Chicago Public Schools engaging in the Unified Champion Schools Strategy. Melissa can be contacted at mgarritano@soill.org or 773-517-5668.
In Region D, Megan Reaska has been with the organization since 2018 and has recently joined the Unified Champion Schools team as the Assistant Director of Outreach. She works alongside Melissa Garritano, assisting with the Unified Champion Schools Strategy in Chicago. Megan can be contacted at mreaska@soill.org or 817-687-8814.
Regina Parnell is our Consultant for East St. Louis School District. Her role is to help Unified programming grow and expand within the district. She has work with the school district and served individuals of all abilities for many years and brings her experience to Special Olympics Illinois. Regina can be contacted at reginaparnell@gmail.com.
Credits:
Created with images by Pexels - "kindle ereader tablet" • KeithJJ - "basketball net score" • MetsikGarden - "color desktop paper" • sharonang - "bowling colorful bowling balls" • langll - "boy child fishing" • Allie - "Zoom software starting a meeting on iPhone and laptop during the pandemic stay at home order" • Jon Tyson - "Good news is coming"