The Maverick Pavilion was filled with laughter and smiles on Friday as Colorado Mesa University hosted the second annual Move It day. The event, brought to fruition by Professors Anne Gillies and Elizabeth Sharp, invited children with special needs to participate in multiple activities meant to stimulate the body and brain. Move It was also designed to teach college students about learning accommodations and adaptations.
“Dr. Sharp and I looked for an opportunity to show our Move to Learn, Learn to Move students how to apply this topic that we’re talking about in class; accommodations, modifications and adaptations for diverse learners,” Gillies said.
The two professors used their connections to the local school district to reach out to teachers of students with disabilities. They invited teachers to bring children to Move It so they could participate in gross motor games with CMU students enrolled in the Move to Learn, Learn to Move milestone class.
Some CMU students organized and ran various activity stations including volleyball, bowling, parachute and drums. The event was set up in a freely flowing format that allowed children to participate in activities for as long as they wanted and move to the next activity of their choosing.
The students that didn’t run a particular station moved along with the children as ‘friends’ to help them participate and have fun. According to Gillies, the event was beneficial for both the children and the students.
“Huge success for everybody. The teachers report that the students come back and are just happy and wanting to come back and do it again. Teachers can just, through observation of their students, tell that they’re having a wonderful time and they’re engaged and they’re being social and active,” Gillies said. “And we get good reports from our Move to Learn, Learn to Move students as well, saying ‘hey this was a really new experience, very rewarding and very eye-opening.’”
According to Sharp, the event was designed to show their students the link between movement and learning, help them understand how people learn and move differently and show them the importance of community involvement.
“It’s a huge success. The teachers all love it, the special ed teachers, as well as our college students. It’s a really cool thing to do.” Sharp said. “Since this class is very sophomore based, it allows students to look outside their worldview and maybe they’ll do more things in their sophomore, junior, senior years after being exposed to this.”
Jitka Nelb Sinecka, Redlands Middle School severe needs teacher, attended the event for the first time this year and stated that she loved it. Nelb Sinecka brought children with severe needs, children that struggle academically and children with autism, one of which had never been on a field trip before.
“This is his very first time being outside of a classroom on a field trip and he’s super enjoying it,” Nelb Sinecka said. “It’s awesome and it’s appropriate for middle schoolers for sure. They’re all playing and engaged and just loving it.”
The success depended on cooperation with various groups on campus as well as the dedication the university has to participate in the community.
“It took a lot of work between the rec center and facilities and stuff to have this space reserved and it’s just really nice to use CMU space to do community events like this,” Sharp said.
After two years of hosting the event with positive results, Sharp and Gillies plan to continue hosting Move It day every spring when they teach the milestone class.
