School District of Holmen

Transition Programing

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Steve Eggerichs

Holmen High School

Adapted Physical Education Teacher

Adventure Coordinator

eggste@holmen.k12.wi.us

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WHPE Annual Convention - 2024

Introduction

• Steve Eggerichs
• B.S. - University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Physical Education
• M.S. - University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Physical Education Teaching with an emphasis in Adventure Education and Outdoor Pursuits and Adapted Physical Education
• School District of Holmen
• 2004 - Present

Outline

• Introduction
• School District of Holmen - Transition History
• Programs Locations and Set-up
• Goals Transition Programs
• Purpose of Adapted Physical Education in the School District’s Transition Programs
• Activities & Daily Schedule
• How Holmen Attempts to Use Best Practices
• Community Resources
• Benefits of Community Based Transition Programming
• Example Learning Outcomes (Not the students individual objectives)
• Example Assessment

History of Transition Programing in Holmen

• 2007-2008: Rick Johnson the Holmen Director of Student Services began to plan and brainstorm ways to create and implement a transition program for their students with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 21.
• Questions / Goals
• IEP goals school based program vs. community based program?
• Role of Special Ed. Teacher, Adapted PE teacher,

Educational Assistants.

• Structure the students’ individual learning?
• Big Picture Details
• Finding a location in the community (authentic community based) .
• Meeting outside of the school district campus was an integral part of this program. The students then could be in an authentic community setting.
• Finding Community Partners and Resources
• Work, Life Skills, Learning, Recreation and Leisure

History Continued…

• Over the next 3 years, the planning group created Project L.I.V.E. (Lifelong Independent Vocational Education)
• First Project L.I.V.E. class was the fall of 2010-2011 school year
• There were only four students who joined
• Utilized meeting space at the Holmen Village Hall for classroom
• Traveled to the YMCA 3X per week for Adapted PE
• After 2-3 months we moved into a room at the Onalaska YMCA
• Staff
• Special Education Teacher
• One Educational Assistant
• Adapted Physical Education Teacher
• Transition Coordinator
• After several years of L.I.V.E. - Need for More Transition Programs
• Project Bridge was created in the 2016-2017 school year
• For the first 2 years, Adapted PE was provided at the high school with the adapted physical education class (the same class they had been in since freshman year)
• In 2018-2019, Adapted PE was provided by an adapted PE teacher at Ironworks Training Center (no cost, the students helped clean areas of the gym in exchange for use of the gym)

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School District of Holmen Transition Programs

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Jobs & Job Training

• Career Exploration
• Vocational Assessments
• Job Search and Retention Skills
• Employer / Employee Expectations
• Job Training Opportunities
• Employee Rights / Self Advocacy

Daily Living

• Meal Planning and Preparation
• Housing Options
• Finances and Budgeting
• Home Maintenance
• Personal Hygiene
• Health and Safety

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Community Participation

• Accessing Community Resources
• Consumer Skills
• Driver’s Education / Public Transportation
• Safety and Vulnerability
• Functional Reading and Math

Recreation and Leisure

• Lifelong Fitness
• Develop Interest Areas
• Planning and Participation
• Social Skills
• Team-Building Activities

Post - Secondary Education

• Researching Post -Secondary Options
• Accuplacer Preparation
• Collaboration with Outside Agencies

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Project L.I.V.E. Mission

To connect young adults with varying abilities to community resources, empowering them and strengthening their advocacy skills in order to navigate their life plan.

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To connect young adults with varying abilities to community resources, empowering them and strengthening their advocacy skills in order to navigate their life plan.

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Community Experiences

• Preparing the students for participation in community life. Encourages student to participate in the community. How and where there are opportunities and become more aware of activities that they can join.

Career Development

• Supported employment and focus on the development of appropriate work-related behaviors, job seeking and keeping skills, work stamina, apprenticeship training and actual employment.

Activities of daily living

• These include preparing meals, caring for clothes, maintaining a household with cleaning, small repairs, appropriate social interactions personal grooming.

Project Bridge Mission

Bridging the Gap Between High School and Adulthood

Mission for Adapted Physical Education

• The goal when we created the adapted physical education program for Project L.I.V.E. was to teach our students the knowledge and skills that they needed to independently or semi-independently incorporate consistent physical activity and recreation into their adult lives. With the ultimate goal being that they continue do this once they have stopped receiving special education services through the high school.
• We all felt that the program had to community based and held off of the school district campus.
• It was important the the curriculum and activities were relevant to the community that we live in. So for us, geographically, we have bluffs, lakes, rivers, and 4 distinct seasons. Outdoor recreation is readily available in our community.
• Another high priority was that the activities that are taught are activities that our students, and their families are interested in.
• The focus became teaching them recreational and leisure activities that they can do throughout the year. While teaching them how to stay physically active using the organizations and facilities that we have available for them locally.
• Recreational leisure - hiking, biking, snowshoeing, fishing, ice fishing, disc golf, pickleball, etc.
• Swimming and water safety.
• Teaching fitness concepts-weight room principles, how to join a fitness classes, at home fitness
• Project L.I.V.E students are likely to live independently or semi-independently after they graduate. They are classified as higher functioning and show significant independent abilities.
• The students in Project Bridge are still working on independence, however they do not have the same post-graduation goal of being as highly independent as their Project LIVE counterparts.

Project Live

Individualized Fitness Days (2X/week)

• YMCA provides memberships to students and staff.
• Strength and Cardio Equipment, Tabata, HIIT, Training, Apps,
• Group Fitness Classes
• Palates, Zumba, Spinning, Chair Yoga, Chair Interval, Group Strength, On Demand Fitness

Recreational/Leisure Activities (1X/Week)

• Ice Fishing, Fishing, Hiking, Biking, Swimming, Disc Golf, Bowling, Golf, Archery, Recreational Games, Fitness Walking, Pickleball, Letterboxing, Snow Shoeing, Sledding, and Camping.

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Individualized Fitness Days (2X/week)

• Free weights, Fitness walking, Body Weight Exercises, Apps.
• Individualized Fitness - IEP Goal Focus “Physical Therapist Guided”

Recreational/Leisure Activities (1X/Week)

• Hiking, Biking, Disc Golf, Bowling, Archery, Recreational Games, Fitness Walking,

Project Bridge

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Transition Program Daily Schedule

Use authentic settings in the community:

• YMCA, BGC, Ironworks etc.

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Include parents & family members in planning

• Family interests, needs, discussions during IEP meeting and throughout the program.

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Document physical education In IEP

• Frequency, Duration, Location, PLEP, Goals, Objectives, Evaluation of Goals

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Teach Independence as much as possible

• Transportation, gym and locker room procedures, Communication, Social Skills, etc.

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Choose lifelong options for physical activity

• What is available in your area, cost, family interests

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Individualize the program

• Look at individual needs and interests - talk with students, parents, community members, instructors to help meet the needs of the students

Appoint qualified physical education staff:

• APE teacher leads instruction and planning
• Special education teacher, educational assistants, student teachers, graduate students, parents are all huge assets to instruction/implementation

Include related agencies and staff in transition-based physical education

• Inclusion of needed related service providers
• Communicate and collaboration with OT, PT, and SLP

Implement an environmental approach to planning

• Evaluate goal, objective, and critical skills needed for students to be successful in selected activities
• Could include rules, etiquette, checking procedures, transportation, scheduling, people to participate with, correct technique, equipment. etc.

Collaborate with others to include nutrition education as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.

• Meal planning, portion control
• Working with dietitians

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How Holmen Implements the suggested Best Practices and Recommendations for Providing Meaningful Physical Education Services in Secondary Special Education Transition Programs (SHAPE 2016)

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Community Resources

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Community Resources

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

Physical Education Teaching Graduate Program

We are extremely lucky to have such a wonderful graduate program in our area to assist us with transition programing.

• Students in Physical Education Teaching (MS) may choose one or both of the emphasis areas: Having both = huge advantage for transition
• Adapted Physical Education emphasis
• Adventure & Outdoor Pursuits emphasis
• Participation in outdoor pursuits is a very popular avenue for recreation and leisure activities for all people. Individuals with disabilities also have an equal to or greater interest in participating in these activities as individuals without disabilities. This is why it is very important to include outdoor pursuits into our transition programs.
• Being competent in teaching outdoor pursuits and being knowledgeable on how modify those activities for individuals with disabilities is not extremely common.
• Graduate students who get both emphasis at UWL leave with the knowledge and skills to teach these activities to students in transition programs.
• This is a huge asset to us, but also to the schools that they will be teaching at.

Social Benefits of Being in a Community Based Setting

Community interactions with a variety of individuals.

• Age groups
• Abilities
• Staff

Communication Skills

• Greeting Staff and Members
• Asking questions
• Asking for help
• Learning the names of people in the community
• Making small talk

General Skills

• Responsibility
• Checking in daily
• Remembering scan card
• Checking out equipment and towels
• Signing up for classes
• Locker room etiquette

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How do Group Fitness Instructors View Our Program?

The instructors love having us come into their classes.

• Classes have people of all ages, sizes and fitness levels
• Instructors try to teach a base level for all abilities that are in the class
• “Fitness doesn’t discriminate”

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How do members view having us into the class?

• Members seem to enjoy having us in class
• If we aren’t in class for a period of time the members ask us where we have been and welcome us back
• Members give encouragement to our students
• Make small talk during breaks and before and after class

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The biggest reward is that our students can see that they can do these classes and that they can come to the YMCA by themselves and join a class without the rest of our students and staff.

How does being based out of a community organization impact our students and others associated with the organization?

Great way to integrate the students into a community.

• During the day it is mostly adults working out.
• Doing activities that many adults do on a daily basis.

Empowers our students

• Give them the confidence to exercise.
• Gives them the confidence to function in a community based environment.
• Helps them to overcome their own obstacle.

Our students are an asset to the YMCA

• Members see our students and it helps them gain confidence in their own abilities.
• Members get to see individuals with various abilities being a part of the community organization.

Standard 1

• S1.H1-Lifetime activities: Demonstrates competency and/or refines activity-specific movement skills in two or more lifetime activities (outdoor pursuits, individual-performance activities, aquatics, net/wall games or target games). (S1.H1.L1)
• S1.H3-Fitness activities: Demonstrates competency in 1 or more specialized skills in health-related fitness activities. (S1.H3.L1)

Standard 2:

• S2.H1-Movement concepts, principles & knowledge: Applies the terminology associated with exercise and participation in selected individual-performance activities, dance, net/wall games, target games, aquatics and/or outdoor pursuits appropriately. (S2.H1.L1)

Standard 3:

• S3.H4-Physical activity knowledge: Evaluates — according to their benefits, social support network and participation requirements — activities that can be pursued in the local environment. (S3.H4.L1)

• S3.H6-Engages in physical activity: Participates several times a week in a self-selected lifetime activity, dance or fitness activity outside of the school day. (S3.H6.L1)

Standard 4:

• S4.H1-Personal Responsibility: Employs effective self-management skills to analyze barriers and modify physical activity patterns appropriately, as needed. (S4.H1.L1)
• S4.H2-Rules & Etiquette: Exhibits proper etiquette, respect for others and teamwork while engaging in physical activity and/or social dance. (S4.H2.L1)
• S4.H5-Safety: Applies best practices for participating safely in physical activity, exercise and dance (e.g., injury prevention, proper alignment, hydration, use of equipment, implementation of rules, sun protection). (S4.H5.L1)

Standard 5:

• S5.H1-Health: Analyzes the health benefits of a self-selected physical activity. (S5.H1.L1)
• S5.H4-Social Interaction: Identifies the opportunity for social support in a self-selected physical activity or dance. (S5.H4.L1)

Transition Program Learning Outcomes

Example Assessment