H-F seniors Emma Murphy and Donzel Marshall participated in Special Olympics Capitol Hill day. During Capitol Hill day Special Olympics athletes and peers meet with U.S. Senators and Representatives. 

Typically Special Olympics Illinois chooses an athlete and partner to go to D.C. to meet with the congresspeople, but this year due to COVID-19 all meetings were held on Zoom. This meant more athletes and partners were given the opportunity to present. 

Murphy and Marshall met with Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office, Rep. Lauren Underwood’s office, and met with Rep. Bill Foster.  

The pair were meeting with the congresspeople to convince them to approve the funding for Special Olympics programs like Unified Champion Schools and Health Athletes Program.

“Donzel and I are members of the Special Olympics Illinois Youth Activation committee and we were given the opportunity to meet with congressmen and women to convince them to provide funding for Unified Champion Schools,” Murphy said. “We explained the impact Unified Champion Schools has had on the learning environment at H-F and described the benefits of being named a National Unified Champion School. 

The pair was a little nervous to give their presentation, but in the end they had a great time. 

“I was really nervous at first, but once we got past the first meeting I got used to saying my speech. It was really cool to meet the representatives and talk about the Special Olympics” Marshall said. 

The pair also had the opportunity to meet with Marie Newman’s office after Capitol Hill day was over. 

“Participating in Capitol Hill is an experience I will never forget. I have spent all four years of high school trying to make H-F a more inclusive space for people with and without disabilities and I loved being able to share my story and experiences with Unified Champion Schools to the congressmen and women” Murphy said.