Hanna and Joana want to bring together youth with and without Intellectual Disabilities outside of sports in Thuringia.
About the Project Leaders
Hanna is a 15-year-old Youth Leader who lives in Weimar, Germany. She is in the 9th grade at Weimar Goethegymnsium and has been involved in Inclusive swimming since 2022. Unified Sports and building connections outside of sport are very important to her
Joana is a 17-year-old Youth Leader who lives in a small town not far from Weimar. Joan is a part of Special Olympics and regularly takes part in competitions. In 2022, she competed as a swimmer in the German National Games. This was where she first participated in a Unified relay! She looks forward to continuing to pursue her passion with other young people and building connections with her peers outside of sport.
The Inspiration
Joana and Hanna see a need to bring youth with and without Intellectual Disabilities together. They want to grow and develop Youth Leadership within Special Olympics Thuringia. They want to bring together three schools in Thuringia to participate in Unified Sports!
The Project
Joana and Hanna recruited more than 80 Youth Leaders in the Youth Forum at the 2024 Thuringia National Games! Joanna and Hanna enjoyed discussing youth work that they’re involved in at Special Olympics, as well as engaging the young people in the audience in a conversation about dismantling barriers of Inclusion!
The Impact
The Youth Forum at the 2024 Winter National Games brought together more than 80 Youth Leaders to share ideas and discuss how they could each spread Inclusion in their communities! During the Forum, Youth Leaders had a productive discussion on how they could incorporate Unified Youth Leadership in their communities!
Project Leader Impact
Joana and Hanna were initially nervous before their implementation. They quickly learned that there was nothing to be worried about! Joanna and Hannah led the group icebreakers to help warm the group up for conversation. The Youth Pair also initially ran into challenges when it came to registration and garnering interest for the Youth Forum. This was overcome by advertising in Thuringian schools. This solved this problem as they say registration numbers rose with an increased interest in the Youth Forum, from those with and without Intellectual Disabilities. Joanna and Hanna were most proud of the Unified aspect of their event. They loved seeing the collaboration of those with and without Intellectual Disabilities!
