Four Elizabethtown Area High School students recently represented the District at the 2025 Special Olympics Youth Bocce Summit held at Penn State University, Harrisburg campus. The student delegation included Bennett Hynicker, Adora Jackson, Madison Lehman, and Noelle O’Brien, who attended alongside their Unified Bocce coaches, Lacie Meyer and Amy Robinson.

The Youth Summit brought together student leaders from across the Commonwealth to promote student leadership and advocacy through the Special Olympics Unified programs. Participants engaged in a variety of interactive activities and sessions focused on developing leadership skills, fostering teamwork, and exchanging ideas to strengthen school communities. The Elizabethtown students also participated in collaborative sessions focused on fundraising strategies and networking with peers from other Unified programs across Pennsylvania.

Unified Bocce provides opportunities for students of all abilities, including those with intellectual and physical disabilities, to compete side-by-side as teammates. The program fosters teamwork, sportsmanship, and a sense of belonging through meaningful interscholastic competition, promoting inclusion, acceptance, and respect.

Elizabethtown’s bocce team will soon begin preparing for its fourth season, with the season scheduled to start in November. The program has quickly become a model of success; in only its third year, the high school team captured the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship for the 2024–2025 season, demonstrating both competitive excellence and a deep commitment to unity and respect.