Current Event Spring Semseter

Avery Reynolds 1st period

“Everyone Gets To Play, Learn” January 17, 2019 Summary: In this article it explains the Adaptive Physical Education class, called “Unified Sports”, at an elementary school. It is open to all students, but models’ events and activities done in the Special Olympics. In this class the students learn fitness and wellness skills. There are 16 students who have special needs, and each have a general ed peer mentor. In the class they do team sports such as basketball, soccer, softball, etc. When they do team sports there are a mix of general students and students with special needs on the same team. The purpose of this class is to involve all students and get special students the interaction, with kids who do not have disabilities, that they need. Connection: For my semester project, I am covering the topic of Adaptive PE and Physical Education for Special Needs. I will be expanding on why special needs students need physical education and what activities help them the best. This connects to my project because it is a great example of what elementary, intermediate, and high schools should offer. In the article it says,” People in the general population play basketball or softball with people who have special needs, so they all play together on the same team, whereas most of Special Olympics is all the players have special needs.” This shows that students with special needs need interaction with general population students. This also connects to my project by touching base on the importance of physical education for children with disabilities. Overall, this article is great to read for someone who wants a better understanding of the benefits of adaptive PE. Response: When I was reading this article, I was very intrigued about how general population students and special needs students are intermixed together. Personally, I think this benefits both types of students. I thought having a general ed student as a mentor for the special needs student is a great concept for both sides. Also, the quotes/ interviews from the students and teachers were very positive towards this idea. Throughout the article I was curious as to what activities this class did specifically. It states that,”…physical education class modeled on the Special Olympics” which demonstrates that they are using techniques from the Special Olympics which can be very beneficial. At my mentor, our PE activities are obstacle course based which the kids love but I am excited to share this article with them to get some new perspectives. MLA Citation: Wohlrabe, Brooke. “Everyone Gets to Play, Learn.” It Is Far from Certain That Court Will Overturn Roe | News, Sports, Jobs - Fairmont Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2019, www.fairmontsentinel.com/news/local-news/2019/01/17/everyone-gets-to-play-learn/.

Avery Reynolds 1st period