Cheers filled Mount Carmel’s main gym on Friday, October 10, 2025, as students from Mount Carmel High School and Ray Graham Training Center, a Chicago public school that supports students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, came together for a friendly basketball game.
MC held the second annual Caravan Connection basketball event, bringing together students, staff members, and supporters from both schools for a fun event.
Caravan Connection is a partnership between MC and Ray Graham that brings friendships, leadership, and social-emotional learning through shared activism. The program has grown to include not only basketball but also flag football, volleyball, and other Special Olympics events throughout the year.
“We thought that pairing with Mount Carmel students would be really good role models for our students,” said Mrs. Katie Morgan, mother of MC junior Owen Morgan and a teacher at Ray Graham. “We also wanted to do a social-emotional learning program and then create a unified Special Olympics team.”
This is the third year of the Caravan Connection partnership and the second year featuring a basketball event. Before the basketball game began, MC and Ray Graham’s drumlines performed in the main gym to set the tone for the day.
The basketball game featured students from both MC and Ray Graham, who said they enjoyed the experience. Angelo Chavez, a Ray Graham student who played basketball that day as well as announced starting lineups, had a fun time.
“It was great,” said Chavez. “I pumped everybody up when I said ‘I can’t hear you!’ and they all yelled louder.”
MC students who participate in Caravan Connection looked forward to being able to showcase their volunteer work in front of their school community. MC junior Aaron Hyler, who played in the basketball game, enjoyed the experience.
“I did have fun,” said Hyler. “I think it was a great collab for us to both come together, and they are no big guys, no little youths, so it was very fun.”
His reflection captured why there was a basketball game. Students could have fun and focus on teamwork over competition. The event turned the gym into a space where everyone’s effort mattered and every cheer was shared.
MC and Ray Graham will continue their partnership with a series of Unified Special Olympics events. The schools have recently played flag football and scheduled a bowling competition later this year. Several Ray Graham students who played in the basketball game are part of the school’s culinary arts program, which will cater MC’s upcoming 6410 alumni event. Later in the year, MC students will go to Ray Graham during Inclusion Week to experience their partner school’s environment.
Ms. Mary Kate Byrnes, MC’s Caravan Connection moderator who helped organize the event, wanted the day to be inclusive while having a fun time, and hopes to make these interactions a lasting tradition.
“I would love to do it more, even if it’s not just basketball,” she said. “If we did football or volleyball or anything that they could get into the gym and kind of experience our student life, and we get to experience their student life a little bit, too.”
Ms. Byrnes also mentioned how her personal connection to the Special Olympics inspired her to take a leadership role in the Caravan Connection program.
“I just love what the Special Olympics does and I love what Ray Graham is doing,” she said. “I am so appreciative that those kids want to be with us all the time, so I feel like it is a way to give back to those kids in a way.”
Looking ahead, Ms. Byrnes wanted MC to invite local media coverage to highlight next year’s event and the growing bond between both schools.
“It was great,” said Mrs. Morgan. “It was really great to see the sportsmanship of all the students, both in the stands and on the court.”
