SSS Students Named Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassadors

SMITHFIELD – Jose Duran and JohnAnthony Fajardo of Smithfield-Selma High School in Smithfield will represent Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) as members of the newest Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassadors cohort. The 2023-2025 class consists of 14 youth leaders with intellectual disabilities (Special Olympics athletes) and without intellectual disabilities (Unified partners) striving to make the nation a more inclusive place for all. These youth leaders will act as advocates, share stories and demonstrate the values of Inclusive Youth Leadership across the country.

Duran and Fajardo met in 2022 as freshman through Smithfield-Selma High School’s Unified Club, becoming advocates for Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® — a strategy that creates sports, leadership and whole school engagement opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities. The result is a school environment that promotes inclusion and respect for all. As many as 19.5 million young people are taking part in inclusive experiences through Special Olympics.

Through their involvement with Special Olympics, Duran and Fajardo fostered a friendship. In the 2022-23 school year, Fajardo joined Smithfield-Selma High School’s Unified basketball team as well as competed in the Special Olympics Johnston County Spring Games. Duran competes as a Unified partner, in addition to his positions on the school’s football and wrestling teams.

This year, the two attended the 2023 Cool Schools Polar Plunge® and Inclusion Rally at Wet’n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro, North Carolina, joining 600 students, teachers, principals and parents from 16 North Carolina schools plunging in support of SONC. Students of Smithfield-Selma High School raised $2,100 for the initiative.

As U.S. Youth Ambassadors, Duran and Fajardo will help shape the future of Unified Champion Schools, uniting with essential youth voices of the Special Olympics movement. Through training, engagement and activation at the national level, U.S. Youth Ambassadors are strong leaders of the Inclusion Revolution.

For more information about Unified Champion Schools, please visit GenerationUnified.org.

About Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools®

Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® is a strategy in more than 8,300 schools Pre-K through university across the U.S. that intentionally promotes social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities through Special Olympics Unified Sports®, inclusive youth leadership opportunities, and whole school engagement. The three-component model offers a unique combination of effective activities that equip young people with the knowledge, skills, tools and training to create classrooms and school climates of acceptance, respect, and meaningful inclusion. These are school climates where students with disabilities feel welcome and are routinely included in — and feel a part of — all activities, opportunities, and functions. The Unified Champion Schools program is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education.

About Special Olympics North Carolina

Since 1968, the organization has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Nearly 40,000 athletes in North Carolina inspire thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels as well as health and wellness initiatives to improve the health status and increase access to community health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Youth become agents of change through Unified Champion Schools, an education and sports-based program created by Special Olympics to build an inclusive environment among youth with and without intellectual disabilities as well as empower them to become youth leaders and create change in their community.