A Special Class

Published 10:38 pm Thursday, December 3, 2009

By Johnna Pinholster

The Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA — A physical-education class at Lowndes High School does more than promote physical fitness.

The class, a combination of special-needs students and others, is forging tolerance and friendship in the form of physical exercise.

The idea to create a peer-facilitated class sprang from the Future Viking Dance held last February, LeAnne McCall, LHS assistant principal, said.

The dance brought in special-needs students from across the system and paired them with Lowndes High students to give them a taste of the high school experience.

McCall teamed with Anna Deloach, physical therapist, and Krista Royal, P.E. teacher, to bring the class to fruition.

Students registered for the class knowing they would learn how to develop balance, strength and agility with their peers.

But Royal said the lessons learned in the class have stretched beyond the physical.

“Students have found a purpose and developed bonds and friendships,” she said.

The class has 36 students.

Tenth grader David Jarvis, who navigates the halls of Lowndes High in a wheelchair, climbs the stairs and walks the track at the gymnasium during the class with assistance from classmates.

His goal, Deloach said, is to run across the football field and walk across the stage at graduation.

Deloach said she taught sophomores Andrew Flythe, Ellis Lyles and Austin Gray how to assist Jarvis with balancing and walking along the rail, but the young men introduced the more rigorous activity of climbing the stairs.

Flythe said they have all become pretty good friends and playing football with Jarvis can be dangerous.

“Expect to get your toes run over,” he said.

Jarvis said the class allows him to participate in his two favorite sports, football and basketball.

Last year, Flythe said they looked at Jarvis as the student in the wheelchair that would bump their table at lunch.

“Now I seem him as any other teenager that likes to text a lot,” Flythe said.

Senior Chris Younger said he enjoys interacting with all the students and plans to take the class again next semester and serve as a team leader.

“You shouldn’t judge kids just by looking at them. They are like us,” Younger said. “They don’t let their disabilities hold them back.”

Sophia Wilson, a sophomore, said she loves coming to the class and playing games. But her favorite part is hanging out with her friend, Shanice Myrick.

Myrick, a junior, said the class has taught her a lot of tolerance and patience.

“Its more fun than any P.E. class I’ve had,” Myrick said.