Physical education is an important part of the school day: At least, it gives kids a chance to expend pent-up energy; at best, it teaches life-long lessons about being active and healthy.
But for some students with disabilities at Mason Creek Middle in Douglas County, PE can be a challenge. With the help of their able-bodied peers, the “Exceptional Wolves” are now getting regular workouts and more through a program teacher Suzanne Butler launched almost 10 years ago.
“The program actually started at a different school, and I brought it with me when I came here in 2009,” said Butler, who leads five classes of about 35 students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. “It’s based on the idea that my students don’t always get a chance to gain relationships with their peers in the general education population.”
Butler put out a call for eighth graders who wanted to volunteer as “ambassadors” to work with her students, including taking them to PE and teaming with them on various activities. Prospective participants wrote short essays on why they wanted to be part of the program and provided teacher recommendations. Since its inception, the program has had more volunteers than Butler can use.
“I have to turn kids away every year,” she said. “I don’t have a set number I take; it depends on the number of special needs kids and applicants. This year, I have 18.”
Those accepted as ambassadors visit Butler’s classrooms and get to know her students. “That creates friendships and the middle school experience every kid wants,” she said.
Ambassadors take the younger ones to PE, where Special Education and Adapted Physical Education teacher Daniel Ewing leads them through a variety of workouts – activities that launched last year when Ewing moved into the position.
“Before that, they never really had an adapted PE program where we actually do activities,” he said. “My favorite is our parachute. We have a huge one the students all get around it, and we rustle it up into the air so they can go underneath or play Duck, Duck, Goose around it.”
Every Friday, the Exceptional Wolves and their ambassador partners hold a dance party for the entire school where everyone gets a chance to dance and socialize. The response from students has been positive, said Ewing.
“The ambassadors keep a journal about how they feel about helping out,” he said. “One of our students said, ‘The Exceptional Wolves think we’re helping them, but they’re helping us.’ It’s created personal relationships that are neat to see.”
Butler has had ambassadors bring other eighth graders to meet her students. “They look for each other in different areas of the school,” she said. “The program has impacted the culture of the entire school. This is my 29th year teaching, and it’s what I’m most proud of.”
Information about Mason Creek Middle is online at mcms.dcssga.org.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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