Don’t label the disabilities, look at the abilities.

Project Unify raised awareness towards various disabilities through Disability Awareness Week.

Project Unify is a club that works with special needs children. Awareness week gave the students and staff in the school the ability to support certain disabilities. The club has major upcoming events to help the children fit in.

Over the past week, Project Unify hosted Disabilities Awareness week. Each day students were asked to wear a certain color in support of different disabilities. “I like being able to wear all these different colors to show them any support I can. It makes me feel good knowing that the little things make them happy,” said junior Allie Rae Thompson. Thompson is a member of Project Unify and loves the friendships she has made in the club. Thompson says the best way to make their day is to just simply wave and smile at them.

At the end of the week, the club organized an assembly with a blind speaker and had their first ever prom. The speaker, Travis Freeman, talked to students on Friday, April 27. He explained his experience and how blindness has affected his life. “I thought the speech was very motivational and it gave me a different perspective on my life and how you should appreciate things,” said sophomore Emily Ezell.

The “Project Unify Prom” gave students the opportunity to interact with the special needs children and made them feel welcome. The event was organized by seniors Cayla McCord, Sean Woods, and Kathleen Scott. The event was also prepared by Tiffany Darnell and other students. . Throughout the week, students had set up different ‘promposals’ for the kids in the club. Two SLAM members, senior Lexie Fisher and sophomore Cole Stewart asked two students to the prom.

Senior Cayla McCord played a big role in organizing the Project Unify prom. “I wanted to give them a night they would never forget. We get to go to prom, yet they’re at home. I wanted them to have the experience we do and make them feel loved,” said McCord. McCord will be graduating this year, but she hopes this prom will become a tradition for future years.

As the school year winds down, the club still has major events ahead to give the kids a fun time. On May 3, the club will be having a lock-in at Bullitt East. The students and members of the club look forward to spending as much time as they can with the kids before school is out. The club may also have a picnic at the park later in the month.