Teachable Moment: Mike Webb and the Adapted PE Consortium Step Up During Distance Learning
04/28/2020 -
Shortly after school campuses closed, Sonoma County educators such as Mike Webb and his colleagues with the North Coast Adapted Physical Education Consortium (NCAPEC) kicked into high gear to serve students of all abilities remotely.
NCAPEC is a group of physical education teachers serving special needs students in Sonoma County. They provide customized physical education, based on each student's ability and goals set in their individualized education plan, or IEP. Students served by this group experience a wide range of disabilities, from Autism to Down Syndrome to Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy.
Since schools moved to distance learning to help slow the spread of COVID-19, NCAPEC has made it a priority to reach out weekly to each student's family, and provide them with a customized exercise program. This can include unique strength training activities with soupcans, virtual backyard jogging club, or designing fitness web pages and Youtube exercise videos. Additionally, students are asked to create a post-it wall of inspirational exercise quotes, to keep themselves and their family focused on what they can control during the pandemic.
NCAPEC’s priority is to help students (and their families) see themselves as athletes. Mike Webb, a SCOE Adapted Physical Education teacher, says, “If you treat students, regardless of ability, like athletes, there is a shift in perception, and they begin to know themselves as a force, capable of self determination. Then, there becomes one area of their lives where they are in control and experiencing the joy and liberation of being an athlete."
The North Coast Adapted Physical Education Consortium is just one amazing example of how local schools are staying #SoCoEdStrong during these challenging times. If you know of an educator going above and beyond to serve students right now, please share your stories by using the hashtag #SoCoEdStrong and tagging @SCOESonoma.