When Shanlee Angel heard the news, she was immensely happy.
“I did cry a little bit,” Angel said.
The news: Franklin High School won the Commissioner’s Cup. It’s an annual award given to athletic teams or cheerleading squads.
The Panthers won it after assistant principal and athletic director Blair King submitted a nomination for the UNIFY holding its March Madness basketball game.
The game, which took place March 28, 2019, featured an immersion of all students. A group of 18 special needs students played 5-on-5 basketball, which fostered various groups coming together, not to mention a tremendous showing of support by the community that filled the Panther Den.
Two schools in each class (North Carolina has four classes for athletics) are selected for winning the Commissioner’s Cup. Winners receive a trophy and $1,000.
“We weren’t expecting any kind of awards,” said Angel, who was a senior and the student lead on the initiative, overseeing a committee of 10 peers. “It wasn’t about money or any of that. It was definitely just for the kids and our community.”
Business teacher Penny Moffitt originally came up with the idea when she came across an online video of an event that joined students with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. She showed it to fellow FHS teacher Bekah Brooks, and both immediately agreed it was something they could execute.
And that they did.
“It’s a really great thing anytime your school has an opportunity to be honored in a way where a student-led event was so successful,” Moffitt said.
Brooks was one of the coaches for the March Madness event. She led practices and helped the students learn the fundamentals to be able to play a full-court game.
She screamed and cried a little bit upon finding out UNIFY had won an award.
“Just because the extent of what this award means,” Brooks said. “Of course, I’m a coach myself. We’ve won things, championships and what not. But this is a pretty awesome award – not to say those other ones aren’t. But the message that this brings and being able to involve those kids in something we take for granted and we do every day. So my emotion was running pretty high – in a good way.”
A second March Madness game was planned for March 26. But two weeks beforehand, the coronavirus pandemic closed schools and halted athletic events.
Brooks called it a major bummer that the game didn’t take place, but believes situations like this is God working in a way we might not understand.
The plan is to reschedule the game at some point.
“We’re gonna have a chance to do this again, whether it’s in the summer or fall,” Brooks said. “We’re not gonna let this ride. This game will happen.”
UNIFY also held a soccer game this past fall, held solely for students and faculty. The goal, Moffitt said, is to have a UNIFY event every spring and fall.
“It makes you so proud when one event that is student-led brings so much joy to your school and community,” Moffitt said. “That’s what was really neat to look back on and made us all so proud. Students helped lead an event that brought joy to so many.”
UNIFY will get to keep the $1,000, King said, which will likely go toward more student-led events.
King submitted the nomination to the NCHSAA, which included a video.
“The award is very prestigious and FHS is honored to receive the award,” King said. “I am extremely excited for and proud of Ms. Moffitt.”
Angel graduated in May. She’s going to school for nursing while also working as a CNA at a nursing home in Sylva.
She enjoys reminiscing about the March Madness game by looking at pictures and watching videos, and said the experience was a lifetime highlight.
“Seeing everything come together and seeing our community come together, and the smiles on the kids’ faces. That was probably my favorite part, just seeing how pumped they were about everything,” Angel said.
“That night was the best thing that’s ever happened in my life.”