Shelbyville High School’s Unified Champions basketball team will have black and gold uniforms for its next game Tuesday.

Mike Bunton, a fifth-grade teacher at Coulston Elementary School in Shelbyville and basketball coach, spearheaded an effort to get the Unified Champions proper uniforms.

On Wednesday at the Shelbyville Central Schools board meeting, Bunton officially presented the uniforms which were paid for by the Shelbyville Central Education Foundation (photo: check presentation earlier this month).

The school board honored Bunton, Unified Champions coach Renee Gardner and Matt Haehl, president of the Shelbyville Central Education Foundation, at Wednesday’s meeting.

Bunton started the process last season.

“I had a son who graduated last year and was on the basketball team and when I was at the games, a lot of my former students and players played in the unified games but our team never had uniforms,” said Bunton as he addressed the school board and those in attendance. “We always came up with shorts and T-shirts.

“It bothered me then and this year I was watching on Twitter when we played Franklin Central (Jan. 19). Not only did Franklin Central have uniforms, but they had Pink Out uniforms. I thought surely we can get uniforms.”

Bunton started the fundraising process by talking with Haehl and the foundation agreed it could purchase uniforms that will be worn for the first time Tuesday at William L. Garrett Gymnasium when Shelbyville hosts Seymour.

In other school board business, the board approved a notice of request for proposals to supply weight lifting equipment for the new weight room currently under construction at Shelbyville High School.

Sealed proposals from prospective suppliers will be opened on March 4.

The approximately 8,000-square-foot weight room is expected to be operational before the start of the 2022-2023 school year.