The gymnasium roared with cheers, as Dartmouth High School showed off its pride for unity.

Decked out in their school colors and waving signs of players’ faces, students cheered on their unified basketball team who were playing a game against officers from the Dartmouth Police Department on Thursday, Nov. 14.

“It’s very powerful to include and consider other people’s differences and accept them for who they are,” Head Coach John Breault said to the crowd, announcing Dartmouth’s latest achievement of being named a Unified Champion School District.

Dartmouth was one of nine districts to be awarded this title last month — an achievement only made by districts that meet the 10 set standards for inclusivity in each of its schools, said Breault. 

This was the first time the school has held a unified game against the police. Breault said the school’s resource officers proposed it as a way to be more inclusive and get the community involved.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I think the kids were really into it, which is fantastic.”

Officer Victor Morency said he had a lot of fun, too. 

Morency’s son had fun helping out with the middle school team and he saw how good it was for the kids, so “I just wanted to be a part of it,” he said, adding how he jumped at the opportunity to play in the game when he first heard about it.

Also in attendance was a group from Bulgaria. Breault said an alumni of the school who works for a networking agency connected him with the group who were looking to learn more about unified sports programming.

He said it brought to light the work Dartmouth does and provided some ideas to possibly implement in the future.

“It was an unbelievable opportunity to network and to bring cultures together all about unified and inclusivity,” he added.

Following the pep rally game against the Dartmouth Police, the unified basketball team finished off its season with a jamboree against Fairhaven, New Bedford, Middlboro and Cape Cod’s Riverview School.

Going 2-4 for the season, Breault said, “It was awesome.”

A new unified physical education class is to thank for the skill growth seen in the unified basketball team this season as it was the first unit addressed in the class, Breault said.

However, he said he was not only amazed by the basketball growth, but also “the power of unified is seeing [students] grow inclusive and more accepting of one another and their social experiences.”

He added how much he appreciates the support of the school, its admin, staff and students, highlighting how they showed up ready to show their pride in the unity of their community.

This was an effort that began with three to five people and now hundreds are invested, Breault said.

“I think that’s the special moment here,” he added.

Senior Ben Smith, who has played on the unified basketball team for the last four years, said saying goodbye is “bittersweet.”

“Dartmouth and unified will always be my family,” Smith said, adding how he feels a sense of pride in the joy and energy he witnessed at the pep rally Thursday.

He added the team “played a heck of a good season,” getting better week by week.

Smith said he’s going to truly miss Breault, who has been not only a coach to him, but an all-round mentor.

“I just can’t describe — I’m speechless because he’s one of the greatest coaches,” he said.