Happy Campers: Believe You Can Achieve at Camp Abilities

Kinesiology professor Monica Lepore is a happy camper.

As Lepore’s students prepare for the third annual “Camp Abilities,” a three-day, overnight developmental sports camp for 20 blind or visually impaired children and teens, she reflects on its success and on her students who make it happen.

“The West Chester University Camp Abilities is actually run by the students,” Lepore explains. “I am their mentor. I make the final decisions. But they run it. I have so many students who love this program. They keep coming back.”

This year’s camp is planned for May 23 through 26 over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Lepore’s student camp counselors are primarily undergraduate kinesiology majors who are minoring in physical education for individuals with disabilities or “adapted physical education.” The minor was formally added to the kinesiology department just two years ago with immediate success.

“We started to offer the minor in January 2006 and nine students graduated in December 2006. This year, we have 39 students enrolled,” Lepore notes.

Lepore and her colleagues conducted a survey of approximately 300 regional school principals a few years ago that indicated there is an increasing demand for highly trained and skilled adapted physical education teachers. Of the 100 principals who responded, there was overwhelming agreement that someone trained to work with children with disabilities is more marketable and more likely to be hired.

At Camp Abilities, Lepore’s all-volunteer staff works with the campers, ages 7 to 17, around the clock. They live in the campus dorms together, share meals, enjoy downtime and work one-on-one with each other. The kids and their student mentors march into the John A. Farrell Stadium for outdoor activities and are greeted by the University’s mascot “Rammy.” The weekend is filled with sports, games and events such as goalball, beep baseball, track and field, swimming, dancing and teambuilding exercises. The goal is to encourage the children to enjoy sports and physical activities while adopting a lifelong healthy and independent lifestyle.

Lepore’s former student, West Chester alumna Lauren Lieberman ’87, a professor at SUNY-Brockport, developed the original concept for Camp Abilities and in 1996, Lieberman and Lepore collaborated on the first program. Camp Abilities has grown significantly over the years, with similar camps now located in Wasilla, Alaska, Tucson, Ariz., Ft. Myers, Fla., and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Many of Lepore’s current students participate as volunteer counselors at the other locations throughout the summer. Lepore is the aquatic director at half of these camps and serves as director for several others, including the West Chester site.

Believe You Can Achieve
At Camp Abilities, “Believe You Can Achieve” is the motto. It not only inspires young campers with visual impairments, but also challenges their student teachers to discover their own capabilities. Before students can volunteer at the camp, they must complete non-credit service learning hours working directly with children and young people with various disabilities.

“Our students are sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities already,” explains Lepore. “By the time they get to this weekend, they already have at least a year of training.”

For example, Lepore notes that on Wednesday nights during the school year, her students work directly with 60 children from surrounding communities who have every type of disability. In addition, the camp volunteers attend an intensive workshop to learn sighted guiding, guide running and other techniques for the visually impaired.

Lepore credits her student volunteers and those enrolled in the adapted physical education minor with her own success. “I could never do this without them,” says Lepore, who is recognized nationally and has won numerous awards for her work with individuals with disabilities, particularly in her specialty of adapted aquatics.

Perhaps it is an ironic twist that Lepore realized her calling many years ago while working at a summer camp. “A long time ago, I had a kid at camp who was disabled. At that time, none of us taught kids with disabilities. I actually remember saying, ‘I don’t know what to do with those kind of kids.’

“After that summer, I thought to myself, why does everyone have this kind of attitude?,” recalls Lepore. “We can teach kids in a different way or level. My expectation became that they could do it. Quality physical education is deserving of all kids.”

Dr. Monica Lepore is a professor of Adapted Physical Education, Adapted Aquatics and General Aquatics at West Chester University. To learn more about West Chester University’s Camp Abilities, visit www.campabilitiespa.org or e-mail CampAbilitiesPA@aol.com.