Building Inclusion & Leadership: Jericho Hosts Unified Youth Summit
BY SOFIA BOUTSIKOS ’29
On Friday, November 21, Jericho proudly hosted one of Nassau County’s 2025-2026 Unified Youth Summits, welcoming 14 schools from across Nassau County for a day full of fun, collaboration, and learning.
The Unified Youth Summit is an event organized by the Special Olympics of New York. The summit brings together students with and without intellectual disabilities from multiple schools for interactive activities that promote inclusion, leadership, and connection across Long Island. This year marked Jericho’s second year in a row hosting the Unified Youth Summit.
During the Unified Youth Summit, students were interacting with different schools, underscoring the importance of inclusivity and understanding in a fun, hands-on way. The day featured a range of interactive activities, including a bingo game in which students moved around the gym to meet peers from other schools and complete their cards, icebreaker discussions about favorite restaurants and movies, presentations from multiple schools, and a gallery walk where students created note cards highlighting how their schools promote inclusivity. Students then taped each of their personalized notecards to a poster, creating one big banner uniting together an inclusive island as a whole. After a group photo, the students enjoyed themselves with pizza and snacks.
According to Jericho’s Unified Sports Coach, Ms. Theresa Cantwell, the Unified Summit is invaluable to the entire Jericho community for the long-lasting inclusivity it creates. Ms. Cantwell said, “[The Unified Summit] helps bring all students together to be more inclusive in the school and to support each other—from sporting events to the hallways.”
The Unified Summit sponsors Jericho’s Unified Sports teams, such as the Unified Basketball and Unified Bowling teams. Jonathan L. ’26 and Ethan L. ’26 have been playing with the Unified Basketball team since they were freshmen. Both students attested to the significance of the Unified program in building community and skills for all students. Ethan said, “We enjoy playing for the Unified Basketball and Bowling teams because students with intellectual disabilities get to feel included, and it’s an opportunity to collaborate.” Jonathan echoed this sentiment of inclusion, emphasizing that “[Unified] is important for all students to be valued.”
The Unified Youth Summit was a meaningful and impactful experience for everyone involved. By bringing together students from different schools, backgrounds, and stories, the event successfully promoted inclusivity and teamwork. Students were able to form new connections and gain a deeper understanding of the importance of unity and leadership, leaving the entire community stronger.
