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- [Clayton] Close to 
1.4 million students

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with disabilities.

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Unified basketball offers a 
chance to experience the sport

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just like everyone else.

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It's becoming more 
popular than ever

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with both athletes and fans.

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Kate McLaughlin is a life 
skilled and special ed teacher

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and Messalonskee High 
School in Oakland, Maine.

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- It really does draw 
a lot of supporters

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because it is such a 
positive, positive game.

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No matter who scores or no 
matter what anybody does,

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everybody's cheering 
and is excited

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for anybody that's 
successful out there.

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So it's really a 
contagious sport for us.

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- [Clayton] None of 
this would be possible

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without the students that 
help train the players.

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Damon Beck is a senior in 
the Culinary Arts Program

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at Mid-Maine Technical Center,

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a vocational school 
in Waterville, Maine.

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He is a partner or peer coach

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for the unified basketball 
team at his high school.

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- We were playing 
basketball one morning

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

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

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since we wanna keep 
playing basketball.

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At the time, 
(crowd cheers and claps)

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we were doing it to 
just play basketball.

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But we actually fell 
in love with actually

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being on the unified team 
and helping the athletes out.

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

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and closer to the athletes.

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- The peer coaches,

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students love to be 
involved in that aspect.

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

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because we just had too 
many kids volunteering

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

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And in a part of the 
fun and the success

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that they're having.

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- The athletes are 
high energy people.

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They're people who sometimes 
need a little more help

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

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But they're all normal 
people like you and me

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and people don't realize it.

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I have normal conversations 
with people there I know.

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

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I get close to them.

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

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'cause everyone picks on me.

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And I thought that it would 
also help me accelerate.

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- My students get very excited 
about unified basketball.

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This year on the 
first day of school,

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I had multiple students asking,

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"When does basketball 
season start?"

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Every single week until 
basketball starts,

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the students are asking.

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

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for these students. 
(crowd shouts)

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- When I joined 
unified basketball,

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I thought I could 
use the exercise

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make new friends and learn 
new skills and all that.

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- The response of the 
crowd motivates me.

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(crowd shouts)

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Like the cheering from 
my friends and my family

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and all that stuff.

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- Getting the fans all 
hyped up and everything.

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That's what motivates me.

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

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My very first year I 
was just winging it.

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- [Clayton] The program 
does not just help players

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

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(crowd shouts) 
- The peer coaches

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that work with our 
special ed students,

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they practice with 
our students weekly

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and are involved in all 
of the basketball games.

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These are all relationships 
and interactions

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that our special education 
students wouldn't get otherwise.

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

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I tend to try to talk 
to some of the teammates

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and people on my team anyway,

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

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- I think my freshman 
year, I came in

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

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She would hide from people.

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She would bite people 
if they came near her.

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She would hit people.

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And then me coming in 
and working with them,

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she started to gain 
more confidence

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and her senior 
year, she graduated.

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She was hugging everybody.

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She was hanging out 
with new people.

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

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And that really lifted me up

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

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- So it really brings 
a lot of self worth

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to our students and their 
families and the community.

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And I just love seeing these 
games bring everybody together

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and just have a good time.

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It's really a beautiful program.

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- Right now in the US alone,

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there are 120,000 nursing 
jobs are going unfilled.

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In Maine, with a decrease 
in number of young people

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and the rising 
number of elderly,

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this situation will 
be among the toughest

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for patients and families alike.

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Tracy Cloutier is an RN and 
Medical Careers instructor

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at the Mid-Maine 
Technical Center.

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- We have a nursing 
shortage going on.

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

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This hasn't really changed.

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

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

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- Rebecca Thompson

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is a nursing clinical 
informatic specialist

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at the Maine General Medical 
Center in Waterville, Maine.

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- It's projected in 2025

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

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

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in the Medical Careers Program.

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

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because they need to 
have a lot of staff on.

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

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- Trevor Meter is a 
nursing technician

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in the emergency department

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at Maine Medical Center 
in Portland, Maine.

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- I think it has 
a lot to do with

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

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to take on all of the students

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who are qualified and wanting 
to go to nursing school.

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

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to get into a nursing program.

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- Things that really 
could help improve things

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would be to make sure that 
education is paid for.

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

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because my mom was 
in the medical field

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and she loves her job

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

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I plan on staying 
in-state for college

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and the rest of my life.

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

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I don't wanna go anywhere else.

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

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is by technical centers like 
Mid-Maine Technical Center

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

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to become CNAs, technicians,

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

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- Students come into my program.

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They gain their CNA 
certification but 
they gain much more.

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They are actually taking a 
medical terminology course

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which is part of the curriculum.

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They also gain 
CPR certification, 
ServSafe food handling.

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So it's not just 
about this one window.

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- Doing this class right 
now is gonna prepare us

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when we're in college

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because we're gonna 
already be certified.

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Then we can just 
start on nursing

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and it will get us out 
in the field quicker.

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

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

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

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- Many small towns can 
face an uncertain feature

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in a changing economic landscape 
but not Waterville, Maine.

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The arts are making a 
comeback in this small city.

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- I think arts and culture

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has always been an 
important driver in Maine.

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Artists have always come 
to Maine to do their work.

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We have really strong arts 
organizations in Maine

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that bring community together.

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

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that we can use to recruit 
young people to come back

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

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- [Molly] Over 20 million 
dollars is being invested

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in the arts in 
downtown Waterville.

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Local organizers are hoping 
to bring in a bigger crowd

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and more jobs in the city 
through these investments.

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- The arts are important

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because they make 
life worth living.

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If we were just going 
to work every day

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

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I think that life 
would be very boring.

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The arts have a huge 
impact on the economy.

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We draw people from beyond 
the state's borders.

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

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It isn't just a small one.

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It incorporates all of film 
and television and print.

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The film industry in 
Maine has the potential

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to be a big economic 
driver for the state.

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

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the entertainment industry 
isn't going anywhere.

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

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

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we can bring those jobs here.

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And we can bring this money here

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and help grow the Maine economy.

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- Arts and culture are huge 
economic drivers in Waterville

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and in the state as a whole.

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

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of dollars to town every 
year just through visitors

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who come to the Maine 
International Film Festival

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and to the Colby 
College Museum of Art

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00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:22,733
and other arts programming.

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

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

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

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- It is an economy

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that doesn't just stay within 
the creative community.

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It happens to be a 
creative industry

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but the jobs and money 
expand far beyond it.

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- [Molly] Maine is trying 
to attract younger people

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to its' borders and local 
organizers see the arts

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as one way of doing that.

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- The increase in the 
arts in Waterville

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has given opportunities 
for people like me

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

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I definitely see 
art in my future.

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I want to go into animation 
or graphic design,

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not sure which one yet,

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but I definitely do want 
to get into the arts.