Grant Proposal For AT in Physical Education

Grant Funding Project

Week 9- 7724

Cari McKee

The Technologies for Healthy and Independent Living grant could positively influence the students of the Meriden Public School District.  The Meriden Public Schools are home to over 5,000 high school students.  Of those high school students, approximately five percent (approximately 250) high school students are physically handicapped.  Unfortunately, this means about 250 students in the Meriden Public School systems are physically unable to perform in the everyday exercises of the physical education classes.  According to the government state standards, children between the ages of 6 to 17 years should receive up to at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day.  The activity should be between moderate to vigorous activity for at least three days a week.  Not only should the students be physically active for 60 minutes a day for at least three days a week, the students should be in a fun and engaging environment.  Based on the president's council on fitness, “physical activity is 4.5 times lower for children and youth with disabilities compared to their peers without disabilities”. (Glenda, 2013)

Currently, Meriden Public Schools do not have accommodations for those students who are physically unable to perform in everyday physical education classes. The school systems currently do not have the funding to provide students who are confined to a wheelchair or other physical restrictions with adaptive equipment.  Our classrooms are set up for inclusion and therefore are unable to accommodate these five percent of students who desperately need exercise. The lack of exercise can greatly impact the students who desperately need to be active. Although there is a lack of accommodations for our physically disabled students, there is a solution to help the students be successful and achieve the optimal activity level to ensure their health is ongoing and supported. With the Technologies for Healthy Independent Living grant, technology can be provided to these students who are confined to their wheelchairs and make them active under the recommended daily allowance for physical activity for high school students.

The technology to focus on would be the wii.  This technology is a simple gaming system that can be used for children in wheelchairs as well as regular education students.  The program requires a TV or display device and the wii console.  There are various games and activities to accommodate each type of learner.  The wii program will present our physically handicapped students with an opportunity to interact, create, and play with other students in the class or individually. The wii console can be purchased for about $100 for one.  Each game can range from $10-$25 depending on the game.  There are various accessories that can be purchased from $25-$50.  Although one game system can be approximately less than $200, the impact on our student body can be irreplaceable.  I hope you can find this technology beneficial for the Meriden Public Schools and our physically handicapped students.

Resources

1. Be Active Your Way Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2015, from http://health.gov/paguidelines/blog/post/Adapted-Physical-Education.aspx  
2. Meriden Demographics
3. Glenda's Assistive Technology Information and more... (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2015, from http://atclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/03/adapted-physical-education-and.html  
4. How much physical activity is needed? (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2015, from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity/amount.html  
5. Furlong, P. (2010). Education matters: Adaptive physical education. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.  
6. Ntoumanis, N., & Wallhead, T. (2014). Effects of a Sport Education Intervention on Students’ Motivational Responses in Physical Education. Teaching Physical Education, 23, 8-14.