UW-L ADAPTIVE PE DONATION

A couple of weeks ago, we saw a disturbing headline in UW-L’s Campus Connection:  ‘A huge step backwards.’ The article explained UWL’s Adapted Physical Education program, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for over 40 years, will no longer receive federal support.

We reached out to Project Director Dr. Brock McMullen and Allison Ziegelman, Vice Chancellor University Advancement and Alumni & Friends Foundation President, to get more information and see how we could support.

UWL’s Adapted Physical Education (APE) master’s program has prepared graduate students for K-12 careers for over 40 years. The programming associated with the academic degree serves approximately 50 children with disabilities each semester and approximately 30 in the summer. In addition, there is a waitlist of 5-10 individuals with disabilities for the various programs offered. The program is supported by a federal grant program that was recently cancelled. Without the ability to secure this crucial support, the ability to offer programming to individuals with disabilities and the ability to support graduate students are severely threatened. Without this grant support or some alternative funding, the programming and the academic degree are likely to have to be discontinued.

Thanks to our Zcare sponsors,  Optical Fashions, we were able to donate $2,500 to the program, teaming up with other Mid-West Family station charities, The Rock Foundation and WKTY Cares for a total donation of $5,500!

If you are able to support the continuation of this work, contact the UWL Alumni & Friends Foundation at 608.785.8489 or foundation@uwlax.edu.

Dr. Brock also wrote a brief Program Overview for us to share:

The purpose of this project is to implement an evidence-based multidisciplinary master’s level curriculum using experienced professionals and field-based clinicals to prepare state and nationally licensed adapted physical educators (APE) to improve services and results for children with disabilities (CWD), ages 3-21, with high-intensity needs. Outcomes include graduation and employment of a diverse cohort of 30 APE scholars for PK-12 special education service delivery; improved services and outcomes for CWD from high poverty schools in WI and other states; and parent education for advocacy and improved services for their CWD.

This project is meant to prepare adapted physical education (APE) scholars with multidisciplinary courses, assignments, and clinicals. Multidisciplinary courses include special education law and behavior interventions. On-campus and field-based mentors support scholars in employment preparation, clinicals, theses or projects, and professional development. […] Parent involvement and education are key project features. The evaluation includes qualitative and quantitative measures to assess knowledge and evidence-based practices for the delivery of special education services. All scholars complete national and state licensing exams.