OMAHA -- The 13 student actors, seven of whom have intellectual disabilities, stand with their hands on their hearts before their audience, reciting a pledge.
"I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the 'r' word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities," they say, as audience members repeat after them.
This isn't just any play.
Audience interaction is a key part of "It's Our School, Too!" which seeks to raise awareness of and respect for students with intellectual disabilities.
The first play ever commissioned by the Special Olympics premiered this week at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which is hosting two conferences related to the Special Olympics National Games.
Director Suzy Messerole said the play is based on interviews with more than 70 youths with intellectual disabilities in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. She said Special Olympics plans to distribute the script to high schools around the country.
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"The great hope is that high schools will want to get the script and it will be performed as a unification project."
The play is a series of exchanges between students with intellectual disabilities and their classmates and school administrators. Much of it focuses on efforts by the students to gain the respect of their teachers and classmates.
In one scene, a teacher tells her students it wouldn't be fair for her to compete against Special Olympics athletes because she would always win. To the sound of sirens, three police officers arrive to warn the teacher about the inaccuracy of her statement and tell her how skilled Special Olympics athletes are.
"No offense Miss Murphy, but I've seen you get winded running up a flight of stairs," one officer says.
In another scene, two students with intellectual disabilities ask their teacher to allow them to take their test in a separate room so they can have more time. The teacher accuses them of cheating, so the students decide to intentionally get some answers wrong so the teacher won't believe they are cheating.
Several students and educators who attended the Special Olympics National Education Conference and the Youth Activation Summit at UNO and who saw the play said it effectively summarizes the experiences of students with intellectual disabilities.
Jerry Dandeneau, director of Project UNIFY in Rhode Island, said he attended the National Education Conference hoping to take home two ideas to better serve students with intellectual disabilities. He said he got three from the play alone.
- Ensuring that students with intellectual disabilities are included in the yearbook.
- Including sports teams made up of students with and without intellectual disabilities in end-of-season athlete dinners.
- Giving kids on teams made up of students with and without intellectual disabilities letters on their jackets.
Dandeneau said hosting Special Olympics sports at schools in Rhode Island has given students with intellectual disabilities there a level of popularity among classmates they often hadn't experienced before.
"By using the sports, they're really picking up an identity that's outside their restrictive environment," he said.
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 402-473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.
Special Olympics play raises awareness
