On August 25th, Pleasant Valley High School graciously accepted the title of “The Most Inclusive School in the Nation.” Presented by Varsity Brands, this special award reached a large variety of students in the school. Both the Sparkles cheer team and Stars dance team received the award along with a diverse number of Pleasant Valley students supporting varying ethnicities, religions, and nationalities.
Pleasant Valley’s UNITE club represents multiple gender identities and orientations, including many unnamed students, faculty, and members of Pleasant Valley High School. Varsity Brands presented this award to Pleasant Valley for ideals of inclusion and respect to all students. The nation’s first all inclusive cheer team began here in 2008 for students with and without disabilities, and the rest is history. Clubs such as PV Pals and UNITE have taken off, combating the ongoing battle of the words “toleration” and “respect.” Tolerate is defined as “allowing the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference.” Toleration is vastly different from respect in the sense that respect adds an element of honoring those different than oneself.
Pleasant Valley is proud to honor the unique differences that we all have. When receiving the award, principal Mike Zimmer made sure to state: “PVHS will no longer tolerate classmates who are different from ourselves, instead we will respect all as precious and valued human beings”.
That statement rings true at Pleasant Valley High School. From receiving ribbons bringing awareness to societal issues from UNITE Club to watching Stars and Sparkles perform at sports games, PV is honored to be named The Most Inclusive School in the Nation.
Part of school pride is knowing that this school, and all members of it are all part of one community. Spartan Spirit reaches beyond religions, races, abilities, or beliefs. When we remember our days here at PV, we will remember that special August assembly we all celebrated as one student body and one population with the same common goal: inclusion for all.
Julia • Sep 12, 2017 at 8:58 am
I love this article, Haley! This makes me very proud to be a Spartan graduate.
(You did a fantastic job on the writing as well. I look forward to reading more of your articles in the future.)