It is a program that brings students of all abilities together, working as a team, building trust and a lifelong love of sports and respect for one another.
On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Weber State University where Jordan School District students hit the court in a Special Olympics Unified Sports statewide basketball tournament. It is a tournament where everyone involved really walks away a winner because of their hard work, big hearts and having compassion for one another. Hear what Utah Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox have to say about these amazing athletes.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a program that brings students of all abilities together, working as a team, building trust, and a lifelong love of sports and respect for one another. On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to Weber State University, where Jordan School District students hit the court in a Special Olympics Unified Sports statewide basketball tournament. It is a tournament where everyone involved walks away a winner because of their hard work, big hearts, and compassion for one another. Hear what Utah Governor Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox have to say about these amazing athletes.
We are here at Weber State, at the Unified Sports State Basketball Tournament, talking with the Governor and First Lady. Maybe this question answers itself because it's such a great event. You could be in a lot of different places today doing a lot of different things. Why be here right now?
Governor Spencer Cox:
Yeah. I'm supposed to be in a lot of different places, but this is the happiest place on earth right now. It's the happiest place in Utah. It's just incredible to see these student athletes coming together with their coaches and their families. And it's a permanent smile everywhere you go. Everyone is happy and we love it.
Anthony Godfrey:
And this has been one of your Show Up Initiatives right from the start. Why focus on Special Olympics and Unified Sports?
First Lady Abby Cox:
Well, as a former special education teacher, this is absolutely dear to my heart. It's also something that I experienced as a young person growing up. I had friends with disabilities that I saw in my congregation, in my school, in my community. This is an inclusion revolution and it's the most joyful, wonderful thing that we can do for our students.
Anthony Godfrey:
This has been rocket fuel for our inclusion efforts, your support for this program, and it's just moved us forward very quickly. What impact have you seen in your own life and in the lives of those you've encountered as you've been involved in this effort?
First Lady Abby Cox:
Yeah, you know, in my own life I couldn't do anything more joyful. Every time I come, my soul is filled up. Every time I'm around my friends with all different abilities they teach me what love, what belonging really looks like. And the most important thing I've seen in our schools is that not only are we friendly to people that are different or have a different story, but they're becoming friends, not just friendly. There's a difference. Full inclusion means we're friends, not just friendly.
Governor Spencer Cox:
Yeah. And this is, Abby says this all the time. This is the medicine that our society needs right now. And there's so much division out there, so much hate. And you don't see that here, right? It's changing who we are as people and these peer, the all ability peers, both the peers and our students with disabilities playing together. There's a bond that's formed there that is just so powerful. There's a sense of community, a sense of belonging, as Abby mentioned. And everybody's better because of it. We were talking to parents earlier, parents of students with disabilities and those without disabilities that are playing together. And I don't know who was impacted more, which students were impacted more. It was such a positive influence on both of them.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's true. Anybody who gets close to this program is lifted by it. Tell me, you're both so positive all the time and we appreciate that focus. How does this fit into the broader vision that you have for the state? This focus on positivity, connection, and inclusion.
Governor Spencer Cox:
Yeah. Well, we talk a lot about how community matters and we've seen a fraying of community over time, especially coming out of COVID, right? When we saw that people had to be apart for a period of time. And we are wired for connection. Utah has always been an example of that. We are what social scientists say a state with very strong social capital. We lead the nation in volunteerism. We lead the nation in charitable giving. And that's just not like a nice feature. It plays into everything else. One of the reasons we have the best economy in the country is because we have high social capital and high social trust. And those things really matter. Again, economists are starting to realize that we're not just rational individuals. That we have to have community and connection. And that's why Utah's doing so well. We want to foster that. We want to continue that. We have a legacy of that, and we wanna make sure it gets passed on to other generations and things like this make a difference.
Anthony Godfrey:
And I can't think of a better way to accomplish it than events like this.
First Lady Abby Cox:
Yeah, and I would just add that, you know, it has to be intentional. Yes, that's how it's always been in our state, but that's not a guarantee that that's how it will always be. So we are very intentional in making sure that this sense of community, this sense of coming together will always be a part of everything that we do and who we are as a community and as a culture here in the state.
Anthony Godfrey:
And I love that. You can't take it for granted. You have to take deliberate action to move it forward. Well, thank you very much for taking the time. I can't thank you enough for your support and for helping move us forward.
Governor Spencer Cox:
Thank you, Superintendent.
First Lady Abby Cox:
Thanks so much.
Anthony Godfrey;
Thank you very much.
We're talking now with the Copper Hills High School Unified basketball team coaches just coming off of the victory against Lone Peak. Go ahead and introduce yourselves.
Kennan Madsen:
Kennan Madsen.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
And I'm Jacqueline Sheppick.
Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me about your involvement. How has it been today and last week with the tournament?
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Honestly, it's been such an amazing experience. We love inclusion. Copper Hills is so involved in inclusion and we have like the biggest little student section over there today. We just love seeing our students get the opportunity to shine and for them to be athletes and to be recognized. And it's just been such an amazing two weeks.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you hosted last week?
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
The tournament between Canyons and Jordan School District sponsored by Scheels. Just a friendly competition.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about that.
Kennan Madsen:
Oh, that was super, super fun. I actually used to coach for Copper Hills basketball, and this honestly has been more fun than doing that. So for me, it's super fun to be a part of this.
Anthony Godfrey:
I remember talking with someone after the event who said, ‘I can't believe I've never seen an event where people are cheering for both teams.’ So it's double the cheering,
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Honestly. It's like, it's so cool to see like inclusion and love and like unity across the state for everyone and it's really awesome to see.
Kennan Madsen:
Yeah, amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's good vibes and we all need good vibes right now.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
But like, go Copper Hills!
Kennan Madsen:
That’s right. That's right. Good vibes all around.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for all the time and effort you're putting in to make this opportunity possible. Anybody who gets involved is lifted by this event.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Yeah, it's super fun. We also just had a student win Prom King on Saturday night.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, that's awesome!
Jacqueline Sheppick:
He's right here, Alex. So it was really cool. We found out that our school nominated him. We had no idea he got nominated. And he ended up winning by like almost half of the votes. And the kid, you just would've thought he was royalty. He was like cheering and like the whole school was chanting his name.
Kennan Madsen:
The whole school went crazy for him.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. Alex, tell us about what you won on Saturday night.
Alex:
Prom king.
Anthony Godfrey:
Prom king. How does that feel?
Alex:
So awesome.
Anthony Godfrey:
I hear that everyone was chanting your name.
Alex:
Alex.
Anthony Godfrey:
How was the dance?
Alex:
Amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
It was amazing. You have another victory today with your basketball game.
Alex:
Yep.
Anthony Godfrey:
This a good week for you.
Alex:
Thanks.
Anthony Godfrey:
Do you love being at Copper Hills?
Alex:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
What do you like about Copper Hills?
Alex:
I get to shoot hoops.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yep. You gotta shoot hoops. I love it. I love that you're living your best life.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
And this is my student Corbin. He's the one who, straight up, got us here to state today. He got 14 points last game and today just drained two threes. He did awesome!
Anthony Godfrey:
Corbin, two threes. How does that feel?
Corbin:
Good.
Anthony Godfrey:
And 14 points, is that right?
Corbin:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
To what do you owe your success? Preparation, determination, courage. What was it?
Corbin:
Just my family, my friends. Miss Sheppick.
Anthony Godfrey:
Your teacher and your fans and your family cheering you on.
Corbin:
Yeah. Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Corbin, you've got energy spare. You just won the game and you're still bopping around here. You've still got, you've got more left in the tank.
Corbin:
Yep.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
He's our most energetic student. He's always smiling and happy.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's awesome. Way to drain those threes. Congratulations on the “W.”
Corbin:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
You've been a great example of inclusion in our district. How have you seen this change people as they get involved?
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Like, am I gonna cry? Honestly, it's like been life-changing. Not only for myself but like, all of these fans that are here who have welcomed my students and have become their true friends. Not fake friends that they just wanna see on the weekends or just in first period. But they truly love them and they work so hard to make our students included. And I have so many of my peer tutors that come back to me saying, ‘Miss Sheppick, because of your class, I'm gonna be a special ed teacher.’ And that's like the greatest compliment to me. But also my students with disabilities, they leave Copper Hills knowing that they have lifelong friends. And to me, that is my number one goal.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for being at the center of this and having that exponential impact on students.
Jacqueline Sheppick:
Go grizzlies, like seriously Copper Hills inclusion's working and it's amazing.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's awesome. Thank you.
Stay with us. When we come back, we hear from Jordan School District employees who are passionate about Unified Sports and inclusion for all students.
Break:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say people come for the job and enjoy the adventure. Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Cherie Oliver, the Event Coordinator for Scheels. Cherie, thanks for talking with us.
Cherie Oliver:
Of course. I'm so happy to be here.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you're also a parent in Jordan District?
Cherie Oliver:
I am, yep. I've got two girls in middle school.
Anthony Godfrey:
Awesome. Tell me about Scheels’ sponsorship of Unified Sports.
Cherie Oliver:
You know what, it's something that we are just starting and we are so proud to be that. We did the golf tournament last year with the Unified golf teams, and this year we wanted to be more involved. And so we sponsored Jordan and Canyon School Districts and we just wanted to make this happen so bad, but this is how we could do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you set up a little rivalry contest last week which was really exciting. I had a Board member who went, who just said, ‘now I need to spread the word about Unified Sports. It was such a cool event.’
Cherie Oliver:
Oh, it was amazing. I cried. I think everybody there cried. It was just so great to see all the kids, including everyone and everyone being excited for everyone. It was a competition, but it was a good healthy competition and something that we are so proud to be a part of. I'm glad that we could be there for.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, Scheels made a significant financial donation to make that possible, and it's not the first time. So we can't thank you enough for your support.
Cherie Oliver:
Yeah, of course. We're happy to do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
And I know we're gonna have a partnership for a long time into the future.
Cherie Oliver:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
So thank you very much for your help in making this possible. I know of no other program that just lifts everybody involved the way that Unified Sports does.
Cherie Oliver:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with Ulbby talking with her about her involvement in Special Olympics. You've been involved with cheer for a long time.
Ulbby Dyson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And just tell me about your journey getting involved in Special Olympics and in Unified Sports.
Ulbby Dyson:
Yeah, absolutely. So my husband and I moved here about 13 years ago. My oldest has something called infantile spasms, which is a type of seizure that come in the form of a sneeze. While we were at Primary’s, we kind of saw the need of just that involvement and inclusion part, but we also understood the financial part of it. And so one of the things that my husband and I set to do was, once we actually owned a gym or had a gym to be able to offer these things, we would. So we opened up our gym about almost nine years ago. And we have since then offered Unified and just special athletes programs in our facility at no cost to the parents. And it's pretty much just based off of donations from either just my husband and I working another part-time job or even the community as well.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's amazing that you are working a part-time job just so that you can make this possible for other people.
Ulbby Dyson:
You know, I, I think it was just the ability to, the excitement you get off of just being able to be a part of something. And also really just the community, the camaraderie that we could do. And as cheerleaders, we have that ability as well, right? We can go to events and we had the excitement and we add the poms. We add everything.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right. Right.
Ulbby Dyson:
I think overall it's just one of those situations that you can set yourself up. And part of that, you know, cheer and then leaders, is obviously setting that example for the younger generations to obviously be able to see that is possible.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think the first time I met you was at South Valley at the annual basketball game.
Ulbby Dyson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And when I heard about what you'd done with cheerleaders, they just kind of described it as you coming out of nowhere saying, ‘I wanna help. How can I be part of things?’ Tell me about that.
Ulbby Dyson:
You know, it really has been a community involvement. Overall I just try to find my way to be able to bring cheer to people. And I couldn't do it without the support of my husband as well, you know. So I tend not to give him props because he's always kind of behind closed doors. But he is one of the reasons why I can do it is because, you know, he is my biggest cheerleader and he always goes, ‘Okay, well if that's what you wanna do, go have at it.’ But also being able to, with South Valley when we met, some athletes don't have vehicles to get to and from a location. So I found that it would be suitable for myself to go into South Valley once a week for an hour to be able to give back in that way. And give them the opportunity to still perform, still be able to be a part of the basketball tournament, you get to see but also just add that camaraderie and excitement and spirit to the school.
Anthony Godfrey:
And there was a recent event recent competition and an upcoming competition for Unified Cheer. Tell me about that.
Ulbby Dyson:
Yeah, so one of the things that we actually are doing, Special Olympics actually does have a Special Olympics Cheer program. It runs about April until about end of June. And so aside from that, one of the things that we decided to do with other local high school cheer coaches was come together. All of us have have athletes with an intellectual disability that actually cannot compete at our region and state competitions. And so what we decided to do was give them that opportunity and bring them all together. And we had teams driving two hours, an hour and a half, you know, just different all over the valley. And we had about anywhere between 70 to 80 kids just wanting to perform with their partners. So it kind of ended up becoming a Unified performance at our state competition this year. So that was definitely one of our biggest highlights. And overall the excitement of just having that camaraderie with everybody.
Anthony Godfrey:
It just keeps growing. Once you're a part of this, you can't stop. You just want more.
Ulbby Dyson:
Right. Yes. And that's so true. And you know, our Special Olympics program has also been great at like, even embracing cheerleading, starting letting us start that program as well. And with our new CEO as well, Scott Weaver, he's been great at just like, yeah, let's do it. Let's see how we can add this. But it adds that excitement. I mean, even today at this event, we're watching cheerleaders from high schools that are not quite Unified, however, they are still here being a part of that. And you see the difference and you see the excitement that they bring into the game.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's that gravitational pull that just keeps adding more and more people to the program.
Ulbby Dyson:
Absolutely.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for bringing cheer literally and figuratively to South Valley.
Ulbby Dyson:
Aw, thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.