Every year since their graduation from Baldwin in 2013, Harrison Middle School history teacher Anthony Barbano and his friend Tommy Mowers have gone to a Pittsburgh Penguins game together. 

The two began their friendship in Baldwin’s Partners physical education class, one of Baldwin’s many programs that have students of varying abilities work together to promote inclusion. 

Because of these programs, Baldwin was recognized on Friday as a 2025 National Banner Unified Champion School by Special Olympics, and as the only high school in the state named to the ESPN Honor Roll by Special Olympics North America. 

For Barbano and Mowers, participating in Partners PE led to a long-lasting friendship.

“At the beginning of each class, we would do a ‘walk and talk,’ which involved the partners and the athletes walking laps and talking about school and our interests. Tommy and I always naturally walked with each other,” Barbano said.

During these conversations, the two formed a bond over Pittsburgh sports. 

“Tommy is the biggest Pittsburgh Penguins fan on the planet, and that is an objective fact,” Barbano said. “During class each day, Tommy would give everyone an update on the Penguins – any news, scores, player movement, and milestones.”

Later, Barbano attended Duquesne University, and Mowers attended Project SEARCH at UPMC Mercy Hospital. Since both locations are close to PPG Paints Arena, it made it easy for them to attend Penguins games together. Even as they have moved on with their lives, they still see each other every year for a game.

“Anthony and I always text each other every year and pick a game that we want to go to during the season,” Mowers said. “We always make fun memories at the hockey game. We have also gotten closer over the years.” 

That is the kind of connection championed by Baldwin’s inclusion programs.

“Put the person first, and everything else second. When you do that, you create relationships and bonds, and they last,” physical education teacher Tim Laughlin said. Laughlin and transition coordinator Eric Jankoski help run all of Baldwin’s inclusion programs. 

Baldwin High School was an early supporter of the inclusion movement, with some programs dating back to the 1970’s. Today, they include the Partners physical education, music, cooking, technology, and art classes; the Best Buddies Club; the Special Olympics Club; the Special Olympics Allegheny County Spring Invitational, the Baldwin Bean coffee shop; the unified bocce and track teams; and the Innovation Shop. 

Friday’s recognition didn’t just come from one or two years of work. It has taken decades and the dedication of thousands of students and dozens of staff members over the years. 

PARTNERS CLASSES

Laughlin got an early start in working with inclusion programs.

“I was developing inclusivity programs in college for aquatics and dance,” Laughlin said.

He saw how inclusion programs could help people of varying abilities reach success. He drew on those experiences when he applied for a job at Baldwin 25 years ago.

“When I got interviewed, they said that they wanted to take adaptive physical education – which was just the teacher working with a student who has a disability – and make it into something more,” Laughlin said. 

That’s when Laughlin and Joseph Murray, a physical education teacher who was at one time Allegheny County’s first director of Special Olympics, developed the Partners physical education program at Baldwin. The goal was to take a sport like football and make it possible for students of varying abilities to learn how to play and enjoy the game, Laughlin said.

“Creating an environment that is truly all-inclusive and that accepts everyone is the pride of this program,” Laughlin said. 

Senior Becca Wilds, president of the Special Olympics Club, is involved in many of the inclusion programs at Baldwin, from working at the Baldwin Bean coffee shop to competing on the bocce team. Wilds’ first introduction to those programs came through Partners PE. 

“After I had been in the class for one semester, I knew I loved it because there was so much positivity and opportunity surrounding it,” Wilds said. 

After a couple of years, the Partners music and art programs were created, using the same model. In all of the classes, the challenge is to develop a way for every student to succeed in each academic unit.

The programs are “trying to find where that student is, meet them at that point, but then take them to that next level,” Laughlin said. 

SPECIAL OLYMPICS SPRING INVITATIONAL

Jankoski has a long history of being involved with the Special Olympics, volunteering while he was in high school as a skiing escort at the Special Olympics PA Winter Games. 

“At the time I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but that experience is what sort of ignited my desire to work in special education,” Jankoski said.

At Baldwin, Jankoski soon began working with Laughlin on inclusion programs. They work together to host the Special Olympics Allegheny County Spring Invitational, which brings hundreds of athletes from all over the county to Baldwin High School. 

“We’ve hosted since the late 1970s,” Laughlin said. Back then, Murray ran the event, which was called the Allegheny County Special Olympics Summer Games. Jankoski and Laughlin run it now, and the event remains hugely popular.

Between 200 and 300 athletes come to the Spring Invitational, and they can compete in three events throughout the day.

“We have everyone from athletes who are 9 to adults in their 50s and 60s,” Laughlin said.

There are many clubs, sports teams, and organizations that come to help with the event from in and outside of Baldwin.

“Through the morning to the afternoon, we have around 400 to 500 people coming in and out to help the event work,” Laughlin said. “Every year, our softball team anchors down the javelin and softball toss.”

Laughlin believes that the Spring Invitational shows what inclusion looks like.

“Inclusion is not just inviting someone to the event,” he said. “It’s actually participating and helping them at the event too.”

UNIFIED BOCCE AND TRACK

In the unified bocce league, students of varying abilities compete together, as they do in the Partners PE class. But the bocce team competes against teams from other schools, following the same interscholastic model that other high school sports do.

Participating in the unified bocce team created some happy memories for Wilds last year.

“I will never forget winning that last match against Mt. Lebo, which meant securing a spot at regionals,” Wilds said. 

Then, when the team headed off to the regional playoffs, they got a special sendoff.

“Right before we left the parking lot of BHS, a couple of cars pulled up, honking, cheering, waving towels, and sticking their heads out the windows,” she said. “It was all of the administration coming to support us before we left.”

It had a big impact on Wilds.

“In that moment, bocce showed me what inclusion and passion truly looked like,” Wilds said. “I was overjoyed with the loads of support I received on that day from teachers, friends, teammates, administrators, and most importantly, my family.”

Max Attenberger, a member of the unified bocce team since his freshman year, believes that the sport makes his teammates happy. 

“It does things that positively benefit all members,” Attenberger said

Baldwin was one of the initial schools to pilot unified bocce through Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools programming.

“The Special Olympics came to us in 2014, since we had many connections with schools across the state,” Laughlin said. 

The unified bocce league officially started in 2015, and “during its second year in existence, the Baldwin Bocce team won the state championship,” Laughlin said. 

Last year, a unified track and field team was established, with many athletes from the bocce team also participating. 

“The PIAA has sanctioned both activities, so now there are official leagues for both sports, with Special Olympics PA remaining as the governing body for unified sports,” Laughlin said. 

In its first year participating in unified track and field, Baldwin hosted the Three Rivers Region South Division Championship. 

“Coming in first place is definitely a core memory, as we have a new banner in the gym to celebrate it, and we hope for many more in the years to come,” said Jankoski, who also serves as the unified champion schools coordinator for Pennsylvania Special Olympics.

Since unified track and field allows for more personal achievements and pacing, Laughlin has seen significant improvement among the athletes.

“It’s allowed the student athletes to take more ownership of where they are and build upon that,” Laughlin said. “For some of these students, it’s the first time they have competed in a running event.”

Laughlin believes that the Special Olympics benefits athletes’ personal health and social experiences.

“It’s socially connecting them in a number of different areas, and we purposely do that so it gives those students a sense of belonging,” Laughlin said. “They’re a part of that team – that’s their team now.”

POLAR PLUNGE AND POLAR POP

The Polar Plunge is an event at Acrisure Stadium in which participants jump into a pool of cold water in the winter to raise money for the Special Olympics. For more than a decade, Baldwin students have braved the weather to take the plunge.

“It was really fun and a full-circle moment with my family, since I’ve been doing it since I was really little,” senior Anna Plunkett said of this year’s Polar Plunge. “It was really warm, so it was really fun because when you jumped, it was such a temperature switch, and lots of new people from our school did it.”

During the pandemic, the Polar Plunge was called off, and schools held their own Polar Pop events to maintain social distancing, with students having cold water balloons popped over their heads. The Polar Pop has now become its own annual event

“The Polar Pop is a lot more student-based, and it’s more about doing it with your friends and doing it for the people who you know that are in Special Olympics,” Plunkett said. 

BEST BUDDIES

The Best Buddies program aims to promote inclusion as well as social interaction among students of varying ability levels. The “buddies” participate in a variety of social activities.

“The Best Buddies is a sister club to the Special Olympics. The Special Olympics is on the athletic side, and Best Buddies is on the social side,” Laughlin said. 

Plunkett said she has enjoyed hanging out with her “buddy” and getting to know him this year.

“We went to the Riverhounds stadium to play football, and he was so excited, and he was able to do so well,” Plunkett said. 

Wilds and senior Kirsten Fohr, who is president of Best Buddies, have worked to build the Best Buddies Clubs into one of the most active at the school. 

“I’m most proud of how we’ve helped the club grow. We’ve added more members, planned more activities, and created more chances for people to get involved,” Fohr said. “It’s rewarding to see more students join.”

Best Buddies has hosted a Friendsgiving event and a Band Together event where Special Olympic athletes performed music. 

“We’ve also done events like having dinner and seeing the school play, watching the girls basketball game, and we went bowling at the end of February,” Wilds said. 

As with all of Baldwin’s inclusion programs, the goal is to constantly grow.

“We’re always looking for ways to raise the bar and make our events bigger and better,” Jankoski said. 

THE BALDWIN BEAN AND INNOVATION SHOP

While many area high schools were setting up coffee shops eight or nine years ago, Jankoski spearheaded the idea of having the Baldwin Bean use the Partners model to provide job experience and training.

The Baldwin Bean has been a huge success, with dozens of students coming in every day to grab a drink or snack. Attenberger is one of the student workers. 

“Sometimes you have to really get working, if there’s 10 to 12 people in there at once,” Attenberger said. 

Attenberger said he occasionally gets stressed, but he still enjoys seeing everyone at the school. 

“Even if you make a mistake, it doesn’t hurt anything. The people at the Baldwin Bean are very accepting,” Attenberger said. 

The safe working environment in the Baldwin Bean provides students with a chance to learn how to organize orders and communicate with customers. 

“It gives them a chance to have those interactions with people,” Jankoski said

Freshman Mayson Wright works with Attenberger at the Bean, and they have formed a friendship. One of Wright’s favorite qualities about Attenberger is that he will learn someone’s name and never forget it. 

“He sometimes helps me with the drinks and cookies, and I’ll help him as well,” Wright said. 

Senior Zach Lieu, who’s worked at the Baldwin Bean for two years, feels that the experience has made an impact on him in a lot of ways.

“We put people under different categories, and it’s just a matter of tearing it all down and being as integrated as possible,” Lieu said. “These kids are not any different from us; they are just as capable as we are, if not more, and it’s very plain when you see them at the Baldwin Bean.”

Back during COVID-19, it was difficult to keep the Bean open, so Jankowski started thinking of other programs that could provide job skills and training. That led to the creation of the Innovation Shop, in which students create Baldwin merch like magnets, cups, and pens, as well as seasonal items like Christmas tree decorations. 

The products are sold at the Highlander Hub student store and at various fairs and makers’ events.

“Every year we get new requests for different products, and we always try to see if we can create them,” Jankoski said. 

RECOGNITION

The National Banner Unified Champion School and the ESPN Honor Roll designations were celebrated at Friday’s assembly. For students like Wilds, these honors recognized the impact of Baldwin’s many Special Olympics and inclusion programs. 

“Winning the National Banner Award and being named to ESPN’s Honor Roll were truly special. It showed all of the hard work and dedication our teams put into these sports,” Wilds said. 

For the current and retired staff members who have run these programs for decades, the honors also show the impact that Baldwin has made.

“We’re one of the pioneers of this in our state and country,” Laughlin said. 

Pennsylvania Special Olympics officials recognize Baldwin’s influential role in the region.

“Baldwin’s inclusion programs have strengthened the Allegheny community by promoting acceptance, empathy, and meaningful connections among students of all abilities,” said Stephanie Taylor, regional sport and UCS director for the state Special Olympics.

Since 2014, Baldwin has been recognized as a Unified Champion High School in Pennsylvania.

“We were one of the first schools in Pennsylvania to be recognized,” Jankoski said. 

He nominated Baldwin for the National Banner School Award, and the high school became one of the 132 nationwide to win the award. 

“Special Olympics North America has a partnership with ESPN, so those two, in tandem, pick a school from the National Banner program to receive the ESPN Honor Roll,” Jankoski said. 

Baldwin is the only school in Pennsylvania on the ESPN Honor Roll for 2025. 

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 

Often, teachers from other high schools ask Laughlin and Jankoski to explain how the school environment is so inclusive at Baldwin. 

“We’ve done this for so long that it’s just been natural,” Laughlin said. 

Through years of hard work and dedication by students and teachers, inclusivity has become a main part of Baldwin High School’s culture. 

“I feel like Baldwin has kind of always been a part of trying to champion this cause and trying to be more inclusive,” Jankoski said. 

Many students at Baldwin are a part of Best Buddies, Partners classes, or work at the Bean. The consistent interactions between people of varying abilities create more acceptance. 

“Sometimes we all struggle to feel a part of something, and I see it a lot in young adults. But I think that’s one of the unique things about what we do with inclusion in our district,” Laughlin said. 

And that culture of acceptance and inclusion teaches life lessons.

“Be patient with everyone, no matter what their needs are, because we’re all working on things, and we need to treat everyone with respect and love,” Attenberger said.