At the February 10, 2025 Town of Hanover Board meeting, the board made a proclamation declaring March “Choose to Include Month,” joining the Silver Creek Central School District in participating in the Intellectual and Disabilities Awareness Month. In the proclamation, the board “called upon all citizens, private and public institutions, and businesses to recognize the ability of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to make significant contributions to our community.”
This historic proclamation for the town began on January 27 when Janet Decker, Silver Creek CSD Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) advisor and the Silver Creek/ Forestville Unified Bowling Coach, attended the Town of Hanover Board meeting. She was there with a simple request, which came from several written statements written by students from Silver Creek High School. Their goal: have the Town Board be the second municipality in Chautauqua County to proclaim March “Choose to Include Month.”
Silver Creek and Forestville schools have spent the past few years combining and growing their Unified Sports and Inclusion movement with their respective schools; both schools are a part of the Town of Hanover. The idea to make this request came after Mrs. Decker read about the City of Dunkirk making a similar proclamation on the Resource Center website. The City of Dunkirk has made the proclamation for several years in collaboration with Make a Mark, a self-advocacy group from The Resource Center in Dunkirk.
Mrs. Decker collaborated with some of the YAC students to create statements, which were read at the board meeting. Each student provided a request to make Inclusion a community initiative, making inclusion and acceptance a way of life for all members of our society.
Claire Gonzalez, a freshman and co-president of YAC, spoke about the Unified sports program stating, “All of us on Unified share something special. We are all included no matter what. We are all special and unique. We celebrate our differences and are not ashamed of them. Here everyone is an athlete.” Claire was a member of the Unified Basketball team last year.
Molly Shaw, a sophomore and the other co-president of YAC made a statement about the importance of inclusion for a community. “Practicing inclusion is one of the most important things a community can do.”
While sophomore Liana Parsell commented on how inclusion makes people feel. “To me, when you make someone feel included, you make them feel loved, important, and viewed as more than just human. Promoting inclusion in schools is very important, but when you take it to a community it means much more.”
Mrs. Decker’s own statement focused on the future. “Our goal is to make inclusion and acceptance way of life, something that just exists,” Decker concluded. “Hopefully, in the years to come, we just live in a world where everyone feels welcomed and can participate no matter what their background, ability, or difference.”
At the February 10 meeting, the board approved the proclamation with Gonzalez, Shaw, and Decker in attendance, as well as the Unified Liaison from Forestville, Brenda Kerstetter.
The students of YAC and Unified Sports will be celebrating Unified Sports Week, March 3-7. The students and staff will participate in a spirit week to help raise awareness for students with disabilities. On Wednesday, March 5th, the entire school will participate in the National Spread the Word - Inclusion Campaign, signing pledge cards and pledging that they will promote inclusion.
As a part of the request for the proclamation, the YAC and Unified representatives provided the town with a banner with a statement that reads, “I choose to include by…” as well as pledge cards that community members can sign showing support for this powerful movement. If you wish to join the Inclusion Movement, feel free to stop at the Hanover Town Hall or the Silver Creek Central Schools and sign a pledge card.
