- [Clayton] Close to
1.4 million students

with disabilities.

Unified basketball offers a
chance to experience the sport

just like everyone else.

It's becoming more
popular than ever

with both athletes and fans.

Kate McLaughlin is a life
skilled and special ed teacher

and Messalonskee High
School in Oakland, Maine.

- It really does draw
a lot of supporters

because it is such a
positive, positive game.

No matter who scores or no
matter what anybody does,

everybody's cheering
and is excited

for anybody that's
successful out there.

So it's really a
contagious sport for us.

- [Clayton] None of
this would be possible

without the students that
help train the players.

Damon Beck is a senior in
the Culinary Arts Program

at Mid-Maine Technical Center,

a vocational school
in Waterville, Maine.

He is a partner or peer coach

for the unified basketball
team at his high school.

- We were playing
basketball one morning

and they kicked us out of
the gym in the morning.

We were just like, hey
we're gonna join the team

since we wanna keep
playing basketball.

At the time,
(crowd cheers and claps)

we were doing it to
just play basketball.

But we actually fell
in love with actually

being on the unified team
and helping the athletes out.

As the time grew on, we
just got better at it

and closer to the athletes.

- The peer coaches,

students love to be
involved in that aspect.

This year we had to turn
away a lot of peer coaches

because we just had too
many kids volunteering

that really wanted to be a
part of this unified team.

And in a part of the
fun and the success

that they're having.

- The athletes are
high energy people.

They're people who sometimes
need a little more help

doing things that you and
I may not be able to do.

But they're all normal
people like you and me

and people don't realize it.

I have normal conversations
with people there I know.

I help people there, I
work out with people there.

I get close to them.

- I thought it would give
me a lot more lead way

'cause everyone picks on me.

And I thought that it would
also help me accelerate.

- My students get very excited
about unified basketball.

This year on the
first day of school,

I had multiple students asking,

"When does basketball
season start?"

Every single week until
basketball starts,

the students are asking.

And once the season starts,
it seems to be a huge focus

for these students.
(crowd shouts)

- When I joined
unified basketball,

I thought I could
use the exercise

make new friends and learn
new skills and all that.

- The response of the
crowd motivates me.

(crowd shouts)

Like the cheering from
my friends and my family

and all that stuff.

- Getting the fans all
hyped up and everything.

That's what motivates me.

- I'm pushing myself harder
and harder and harder.

My very first year I
was just winging it.

- [Clayton] The program
does not just help players

on the court but also
with day-to-day life.

(crowd shouts)
- The peer coaches

that work with our
special ed students,

they practice with
our students weekly

and are involved in all
of the basketball games.

These are all relationships
and interactions

that our special education
students wouldn't get otherwise.

- Yeah, they're in like
practice and game and all that.

I tend to try to talk
to some of the teammates

and people on my team anyway,

try to be sociable,
as I like to put it.

- I think my freshman
year, I came in

and there was a girl who
had no confidence at all.

She would hide from people.

She would bite people
if they came near her.

She would hit people.

And then me coming in
and working with them,

she started to gain
more confidence

and her senior
year, she graduated.

She was hugging everybody.

She was hanging out
with new people.

She was having a great time
and she was just happy.

And that really lifted me up

and really that's my number
one experience from it.

- So it really brings
a lot of self worth

to our students and their
families and the community.

And I just love seeing these
games bring everybody together

and just have a good time.

It's really a beautiful program.

- Right now in the US alone,

there are 120,000 nursing
jobs are going unfilled.

In Maine, with a decrease
in number of young people

and the rising
number of elderly,

this situation will
be among the toughest

for patients and families alike.

Tracy Cloutier is an RN and
Medical Careers instructor

at the Mid-Maine
Technical Center.

- We have a nursing
shortage going on.

That's been an ongoing thing
as long as I can remember.

This hasn't really changed.

The numbers have gotten a little
bit better for a time frame

and now they're slowly
climbing to be worse again.

- Rebecca Thompson

is a nursing clinical
informatic specialist

at the Maine General Medical
Center in Waterville, Maine.

- It's projected in 2025

that we'll have a
shortage of 3,200 nurses.

- [Clayton] Madison St.
Pierre is a first-year student

in the Medical Careers Program.

- Patients are gonna be at risk
if there's not enough nurses

because they need to
have a lot of staff on.

You can't be short on nurses
because they do so much.

- Trevor Meter is a
nursing technician

in the emergency department

at Maine Medical Center
in Portland, Maine.

- I think it has
a lot to do with

we don't have enough nursing
programs in the state of Maine

to take on all of the students

who are qualified and wanting
to go to nursing school.

- [Clayton] In Maine, it
can take up to three years

to get into a nursing program.

- Things that really
could help improve things

would be to make sure that
education is paid for.

- I want to go to college
for nursing after high school

because my mom was
in the medical field

and she loves her job

and I wanna be able to
have a good time working.

I plan on staying
in-state for college

and the rest of my life.

This is just where I grew
up and I like it here.

I don't wanna go anywhere else.

- I think the way we are
going to solve this problem

is by technical centers like
Mid-Maine Technical Center

that is getting students so
young at 15, 16, 17 years old

to become CNAs, technicians,

and get working while
they're still in high school.

- Students come into my program.

They gain their CNA
certification but
they gain much more.

They are actually taking a
medical terminology course

which is part of the curriculum.

They also gain
CPR certification,
ServSafe food handling.

So it's not just
about this one window.

- Doing this class right
now is gonna prepare us

when we're in college

because we're gonna
already be certified.

Then we can just
start on nursing

and it will get us out
in the field quicker.

- I can go beyond the scope
of practice of the CNA

and expose them, though they're
not required, expose them

to what they're gonna be
looking for in their future.

- Many small towns can
face an uncertain feature

in a changing economic landscape
but not Waterville, Maine.

The arts are making a
comeback in this small city.

- I think arts and culture

has always been an
important driver in Maine.

Artists have always come
to Maine to do their work.

We have really strong arts
organizations in Maine

that bring community together.

And I think arts and culture
really is one of the few tools

that we can use to recruit
young people to come back

to Maine which is a
big challenge that
we face as a state.

- [Molly] Over 20 million
dollars is being invested

in the arts in
downtown Waterville.

Local organizers are hoping
to bring in a bigger crowd

and more jobs in the city
through these investments.

- The arts are important

because they make
life worth living.

If we were just going
to work every day

and doing the grind in and
grind out and going home,

I think that life
would be very boring.

The arts have a huge
impact on the economy.

We draw people from beyond
the state's borders.

- The film industry, as a
whole, is a truly big economy.

It isn't just a small one.

It incorporates all of film
and television and print.

The film industry in
Maine has the potential

to be a big economic
driver for the state.

Unlike a lot of other industries
that have faded over time,

the entertainment industry
isn't going anywhere.

And they spend a lot of money
and they hire a lot of people.

If we were to expand and grow
that industry here in Maine,

we can bring those jobs here.

And we can bring this money here

and help grow the Maine economy.

- Arts and culture are huge
economic drivers in Waterville

and in the state as a whole.

We now, in Waterville, for
example, we bring millions

of dollars to town every
year just through visitors

who come to the Maine
International Film Festival

and to the Colby
College Museum of Art

and other arts programming.

So those people come in and
they eat in our restaurants,

they stay in hotels, and
they shop in our stores.

And I think that's true
state-wide for sure.

- It is an economy

that doesn't just stay within
the creative community.

It happens to be a
creative industry

but the jobs and money
expand far beyond it.

- [Molly] Maine is trying
to attract younger people

to its' borders and local
organizers see the arts

as one way of doing that.

- The increase in the
arts in Waterville

has given opportunities
for people like me

to stay in Maine and do what
they wanna do in the arts.

I definitely see
art in my future.

I want to go into animation
or graphic design,

not sure which one yet,

but I definitely do want
to get into the arts.