Hidden in the back of the kinesiology department, tucked in a corner behind the pool, is the small, secluded classroom housing the adaptive sports program at American River College. The program boasts nine classes, each focusing on a different aspect of helping students with disabilities stay active and healthy in their daily lives. Jennae Lambdin runs the program after taking it over from the creator of the program, Raye Maero, in 2019.
The classes in the program range from weight training and fitness to self-defense and adapted aquatics. The weight training program focuses on individualizing various exercises for each student and modifying the workouts to each student’s needs. The students in the program are affected by a wide range of disabilities and Lambdin works with all of them to tailor a workout plan that they can do within their abilities to improve their physical and mental well-being.
The adaptive sports program is one of few in the state that allows students to repeat classes as often as they want since the classes are designed to help improve the quality of life of the students it serves.
“I have an 87-year-old that’s been coming here for years, and she’s been doing it so that she can continue to move because she knows how important movement is for her overall health,” Lambdin said.
Other students use the class as a supplementary space to rehabilitate injuries and further develop their muscles. Emmy Myers, a funeral service student at ARC and student aid for the adaptive sports program recalled a story about a student who had been in the class because of mobility issues due to an injury that made her unable to stand without a walker.
“I was working with her to practice her balance and she was explaining to me how she does it at home and how she’s trying to stand without holding on to anything, and as she’s talking to me, she isn’t holding on to anything,” Myers said. “And I said, look, you’re not holding on. She was just so stoked, and I was so happy for her because she didn’t even realize that she was doing it.”
The adaptive sports program doesn’t just help students with disabilities improve their mental and physical health, it also gives students at ARC who are interested in kinesiology the opportunity to get paid, real-world experience in physical education and athletic training.
Student aids like Myers allow for the classes to be more individualized for each student and gives students an opportunity to have one-on-one help. Lamdin has brought more individualized support and personalized instruction to the program, since taking it over from Maero.
“I find that there is more one-on-one training under Janae and that’s very helpful,” said Ruth Hammontree, a student who has been in the program since Maero ran it.
Lambdin hopes to serve more students in the adaptive sports program and expand the size and scope of her classes. The classroom they are currently in is small and holds as much equipment as they can fit while still leaving space for students to comfortably move around. With the students, student aids, equipment, and the occasional caretaker, the space can get cramped fast. Despite the difficulties with size and spacing, Lambdin has been trying to recover the number of students in the program since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID decimated our program. It decimated our program because our people had the tendency to be sicker, and so all the more they weren’t excited about being around people,” Lambdin said.
The adaptive sports program started reopening its doors to help students in person about a year into the pandemic, however, many students faced devastating setbacks.
“A lot of our people just lost communication, lost all that socialized opportunity, their families and caregivers weren’t allowed to help them. A lot of people have not regained that,” Lambdin says.
However, the program is rebuilding. Lambdin holds seven classes a week and can have up to fifteen students per class. There is still a high demand for the class, not only amongst students with disabilities but also from older students at ARC that use the classes as a way to stay active within their abilities.
“A lot of us can’t keep up with the average 20-year-old in a regular PE class and when we can’t, we need a program that will be adaptive to what we can do,” Hammontree said. “It’s a great program for students, it’s a great program for the community, it’s just fantastic.”
