Four Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) teams participated in the Feb. 14 Special Olympic Maryland’s Interscholastic Unified Sports (IUS) Indoor Bocce Tournament at Hagerstown Community College.

The state tournament welcomed teams from Charles, Allegheny, Baltimore, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, and Baltimore City. The tournament’s divisions are named for cities in Italy, the country where bocce was developed.

Team 5 of Maurice J. McDonough High School earned a bronze medal in the Naples division; a team made up of students at St. Charles and Westlake high schools placed fourth in the Florence division; McDonough’s Team 3 took fifth place in the Milan division; and Team 1 of La Plata High School earned a seventh-place spot in the Rome division.

Unified sports teams are made up of a combination of students of various abilities who train together and compete against other unified teams. The program promotes social inclusion through shared training and competition for people with and without intellectual disabilities. Bocce is one of three Unified sports CCPS students can participate in during the school year.

Other Unified offerings are tennis in the fall and track and field in the spring. The Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Maryland, is also supported by students involved in the unified sports program.

Students on Team 5 at McDonough are Michael Brill, Malachi Faxon, Logan Gray, Daniel Howard, Nick Mudd, Sebastian Romero, Ethan Shettle and Aden Sweeney. Dave Bradshaw, a physical education teacher at McDonough, and Matt Petricoin, a vision teacher for CCPS, coach the team.

Members of the St. Charles and Westlake team are Xander Dickerson, Ishmael Gray, Myleine Kpoukap Nguikam, Amare Randolph, Peyton Vincent, Victoria White and Christian Young. The team is coached by Derwin Webb, a special education instructional assistant at Westlake, and Jennifer Heisey and Caroline Foster, both special education teachers at St. Charles.

McDonough’s Team 3 is made up of students Talyn Catena, Katie Good, Claire Good, Allyn Harris, Victoria Johnson, Zach McChesney, Landon Newsome and Dalilah Turnbull. Ryann Harris and Cynclair Wilson are alternates. Bradshaw and Petricoin coach McDonough’s Team 3.

La Plata’s Team 1 is comprised of students Aiden Drumm, Morgan Grove, Phillip Hawkins, Lily Hoffman, Taylor Houghton, Sophie Huntt, Chase Nelson and Katelyn Willett. The team is coached by William Boehm, a technology education teacher, and Stephanie Barry, a special education teacher.

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 27,765 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.

CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).