ANKENY, Iowa — To outsiders, this class can be chaotic, confusing, and culture-changing.

“I wish people could come and see our kids of today because we are in good hands,” said Jodi Larson. The teacher of 30 years leads People P.E. at Ankeny Centennial High School. “I’m not sure you could tell who was who in my class because they just go,” Larson said.
 
In the class, special education students are paired with a peer student, not in separate P.E. classes but together. Larson said, “When we isolate students who have differences, they often times get left behind in the friendship category.”
 
The district has had it for over 20 years, but in 2018 when her oldest daughter Chloe was in high school, Jodi raised the expectations around the class and created a student-led unified leadership team. Chloe said, “It’s a changed program since I left it five years ago.”

Being a part of that change in People P.E. pushed Chloe to inspire change herself. She earned a teaching degree at Northwest Missouri State and is wrapping up her first year as a special education teacher at Ankeny’s Northwest Elementary.”

Once we made it to high school and I got in that class, I knew it wasn’t just teaching I wanted to go into, but it was special ed,” said Chloe.

Like her mom, Chloe dreams bigger than the four walls surrounding her classroom — the hope to bring People PE to all grade levels. “My goal was that if I could come here at the elementary level, I could build it like she did at Centennial, and then we could work together and get the whole district going,” Chloe said.

Physical health isn’t the only thing seeing a positive impact. Jodi said, “If you are chosen for this class, it is not just in these four walls. This is what we believe in and this is what we do.”

The joy from this class extends well after the bell rings. “This year has been my full dream starting to see because the kids are no different than their other friendships. They pick each other up, they go get ice cream, they go to practice, they go to sporting events, they go to grad parties,” said Jodi.

Students now feel empowered to advocate for their classmates because the class created a bond of understanding. Jodi said, “Our kids get athletic letters now for their unified sports, and that was something our unified leadership team went to our athletics director and said, ‘why not?’”

Among the unified leadership team captains this year is Jodi’s youngest daughter, Chloe’s sister Lily. “I’ve been out five years, and looking back, I look at all the opportunities they have now and I’m like I wish I had that,” said Chloe.

People P.E. has put Ankeny Centennial High School in rarified air. They are now just one of 10 schools in the state and just the fifth high school to earn the coveted Unified Champion School designation, according to the Special Olympics Iowa website. “We have a two-day track meet coming up this week that is for our entire district for students that have a disability to be introduced to unified sports. It’s 100% student-led, and we have 250 athletes coming,” Jodi said.

Kids who don’t see the differences as a divide but as a strength towards a bridge together. Jodi said, “If they own a business someday, they are gonna make sure there that if there is a Job First student that they get extra training, or if they will be at the State Capitol, they are going to be in politics that they will fight that fight. All means all for everybody. Everybody has a right and everybody can learn.”

Centennial is in the process of hanging its second Unified Champion banner after achieving recertification. The other high schools to achieve Unified Champion School designations, according to Special Olympics Iowa, are Central DeWitt, Des Moines Roosevelt, Davenport West, and Spencer.