After-school program brings disabled together

By Cydney Cappello

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 1:45 a.m.

Thousands of Clark County students with disabilities have come to rely upon the school district's Adapted Physical Education program during school hours.

Nearing its first anniversary, another program is giving disabled students an outlet to participate in sports after the final bell rings.

The Paralympic Academy meets once a month and allows students to continue playing sports after school -- and possibly compete nationally with other physical disability sports clubs. Adapted PE gives students the opportunity participate in sports together, regardless of disability, because sports are modified according to U.S. Paralympic standards.

Coronado high school senior Cortney Jordan, who has partial paralysis on her left side, volunteers with the program to watch the kids grow and improve their skills. She said she wishes she had known about the programs sooner.

"I love it because I get to help out with the kids in the district who have disabilities and it means a lot to me because I didn’t get started with Paralympics until I was 13," she said. "I think it's good that we’re getting them started young because they can get a lot of practice and be ready for Paralympics at a young age."

Jordan won gold at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in the 400 freestyle event, setting a Paralympic record at 33.84. She competed in six events at the Games and brought home four medals; one bronze, two silver and of course one gold.

Even though she bested several swimmers to earn those medals, she said that in the after-school program, kids often beat her time.

"I play the games sometimes with them and they beat me a lot," she said. "We had these wheelchair races last year and I was bad ... It’s really hard to be in a wheelchair for me because I’m not usually in a wheelchair and so (the kids) were really fast."

The Paralympic Academy offers several sports, including swimming and rugby and goal ball. Parents and siblings are also encouraged to play.

“They invite a lot of siblings to come in and participate so that the siblings have a good idea what it feels like to be them and they have a new appreciation for what they go through and the struggle," said Andreana Leonard, a parent and supporter of the program. "It really does change everybody."

Leonard’s daughter, Cheyenne, is in a wheelchair and struggled with the concept that her brother could compete in sports, but she couldn’t.

“Her brother was in sports and he played soccer and had all of these trophies and she said, ‘I want to win a trophy,’ and I said, ‘I’m sorry, you’re disabled,'" Andreana Leonard said.

Then the family met with organizers of BlazeSports, a local program that assists kids with disabilities.

"She has learned how to play rugby, basketball, tennis, track and field -- she learned how to play everything there was to play," Andreana Leonard said of her daughter. "She has medals all over her bedroom."

Organizers attributed the success of the Paralympic Academy to the fact that it works in conjunction with the school district and the city of Las Vegas.

“Next year I’m really worried because the funding is very dangerous as far as what we’re going to be able to fund in a program like this,” Chambers said, adding that organizers are looking for additional funding sources.

Many Adapted PE teachers, like Sondra Gomez, stay after school to volunteer their time, even bringing their own children to play sports with the kids.

“I think it’s important for kids to learn that the kids with disability are kids first and it's not that they can’t do things, they just have to do things differently," Gomez said, "and it should not exclude them from playing sports."