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In the Classroom: Basketball game unifies Papillion-La Vista students

Basketball unifies Papillion-La Vista students
Posted at 3:51 PM, Dec 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-14 07:15:43-05

It was a cross-town rivalry game that had students on their feet. The Papillion-La Vista Monarchs took on the Papillion-La Vista South Titans for their third Special Olympics Unified basketball game.

The Papillion-La Vista Community Schools game did not disappoint. There was a dunk, and a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Titans won this one at home. It's their second win in this third annual contest. 

Here's that awesome shot at the end from TJ McNew. It's posted on the Papillion-La Vista Community Schools Facebook page.

Special education teacher Nathan Cain said it's been amazing to see how students have taken this event and run with it.  "Kids drive culture in our building, adults have these ideas but when it comes down to it, adults need to get out of the way and let kids create awesome opportunities for themselves," he said. The JROTC Color Guard, cheerleaders, show choir and band all took part. The students were on their feet the entire game. 

Papillion-La Vista South is a National Unified Champion School because of events like this. 

We spoke with Unified partners on both teams who hope to one day pursue a career in special education. Zachary Pierce told us he has learned a lot from these game, "always have a positive mindset, be happy and be thankful for what you have."

Cody Morris plays for the Monarchs. He said he enjoys this about the game, "gets people interacting with each other, shows people that have disabilities they can do things."