March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and the staff and students involved with MHS’s Unified Special Olympics Club, the Lakers (adapted Minnetonka-Wayzata teams), and Unified PE are showing how important unified athletics are, as a place to foster inclusion and build community.

On February 22, special education teacher and head Strength and Conditioning Coach Taylor Moon was named 2025 Community Hero for Gigi’s Playhouse, a Down Syndrome achievement center. He says this award was, “kind of a surprise,” and explains, “I was nominated by one of my student’s parents, and it just feels good to be recognized for just doing things that I love.” Moon speaks to his unique role as both a special education teacher and coach, saying that his goal for these positions is to, “create a bridge and connect my coaching world, my athletes, with my kids in my classroom.”

“I get to meet a lot of kids and I can use that in a way to create an inclusive environment,” Moon says. He adds, “Our kids in the classroom love the interaction, and creating opportunities for kids in my class to go to sporting events, just go to other social events, and hang out with other people… I get the best of both worlds and I get to create a safe space for relationships to
foster,” he describes the impact of sports as an important space for inclusion.

The significance of Unified Club and Unified PE for inclusion is further explained by adapted PE teacher, Kristen Goeser. She says, “the nice part about a Unified PE or a Unified Theater Arts is that the curriculum is intentionally geared [toward inclusion].” Goeser explains that she came to Minnetonka “because of the unified program, and so that’s definitely the piece of my job that I’m most passionate about.”

Goeser finds that sports can be a good way to promote inclusion because, “having a common activity to share, kind of, gives people a starting ground… Whether it’s a badminton game or a bike ride, it just offers the opportunity to share something.”

As Goeser adds, “a connected school is one that’s successfully inclusive,” Moon includes, “Every student deserves an opportunity. It doesn’t matter what it is, it could be in the weight room, it could be in a class, it could be in a play, but every student deserves an opportunity.”

Unified PE and Theater Arts are two classes that require registration during the window for the following school year. However, Unified Club is open to all. It takes place on Monday mornings, typically in the East Gym, and, as Goeser describes, her favorite thing about Unified club is, “the mutual benefit for kids with and without disabilities.”