PEORIA, Ariz — Liberty High School in Peoria hosted their first ever intramural sports basketball game Thursday which featured students with their Unified Program. The program combines kids with disabilities with general education students and allows them to participate in classes that they may not have had to opportunity to in the past.
"We have unified sports, we have unified dance, we have unified choir and band,” Liberty High School teacher Jessi Wilk said.
Wilk has been teaching at Liberty High School for 12 years. The basketball game was her idea.
"There's a lot of things you can't teach in classrooms," Wilk said. "You can't necessarily teach acceptance, you can't teach inclusion all the time-- but you teach through experiences."
And what an experience it was for one student in the program.
Junior Tonatiuh Ramirez, who goes by "T," sank a buzzer-beater at the end of the game from half-court, causing the whole gymnasium to erupt in cheers in a heartwarming moment.
"I do the best shot ever," Ramirez said. "The crowd and everything, it was amazing."
Ramirez's mother, Rocio Ramirez, teared up as she rewatched the video from the moment.
"He told me 'mom I want to do it. I have to do it.' And he did it!," Rocio Ramirez said. "He wants to be a professional basketball player."
It was a moment the community will never forget.
"I always believe in myself. Always,” T Ramirez said.
T Ramirez was one of many students participating in the game through the unified program.
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