Summer Camp Offers Sports Instruction To Children With Special Needs

The blistering days of summer have arrived and perhaps nobody is feeling the heat more than the campers at New Canaan High School. While summer camps for high school students won't begin until next month, July belongs to the middle school crowd and everything below. And for the young campers, there's certainly no shortage of activities to choose from. Among the sports offered are lacrosse, tennis, track and field, baseball, volleyball, basketball, field hockey and soccer.

The participants in the sports camp at NCHS are a mix of special education children and their peers, who have teamed up for a program featuring an emphasis on interaction outside the classroom. An average day of camp consists of the students with special needs hitting tennis balls with instructors, who are current NCHS upperclassmen that receive credit for a semester of physical education.

But as some of the instructors point out, this isn't the kind of summer job in which you, "punch a clock, put in the hours and then go home."

Jimmy Joe Granito, an NCHS senior who's been an instructor for two years, said, "It really makes you feel good when you see a kid smile after hitting a ball over the net." He added, "It might be the same kid that never smiled in a classroom setting."

Tim Fox, also an NCHS senior who's a first-year participant, said, "It's really a special feeling with these kids. For some, sports makes it easier to communicate with them."

The sports activities are tailored to their particular needs as part of the Individual Education Program, so not all the special needs children partake in the same activities. The program runs during the summer months, and has recently expanded to offer swimming lessons at the New Canaan YMCA. In addition, St Aloysius has donated court time for basketball during the winter months as the program continues to grow.

Priscilla Schultz, who's been a faculty member at NCHS for 32 years, started work at the high school as a long-term substitute teacher. Over the years she's coached girls' volleyball, freshman girls' basketball and junior varsity softball . She is also credited with starting the "Gym Buddies" program. 

"It's my special love," Schultz said in between hitting forehands with one of the kids. In addition to tennis, there's basketball, soccer and bike riding. "I've always loved the relationship with special need kids."

Howie Berg, in his sixth year as head of  Adaptive Physical Education, finds the program to be fulfilling for all involved.

"Just to see progress with any of the kids is so rewarding," said Berg.