ABCD Day

On Sunday the 25th, the was an event held at park center called ABCD Day. ABCD stands for All Beings Celebrating Differences. This event was put on by one of the students here at SUNY Cortland, and it was a huge success. I was there from 9:00 in the morning, until about 3:30 that afternoon helping set up and breakdown the gyms. There was a turn out of around 150 kids from Cortland and the surrounding area. The picture to the right shows some of the activities that were available to the kids in the main gyms at Park Center. There was a giant slide, a bounce house, basketball, football, Kan Jam, and several other games going on, all at the same time. The left court had the bounce house and slide, the middle had the basketball, football, and Kan Jam, and the far right court had exergames and scooter soccer. The exergames were a big hit. There were adults and kids playing them, and they are great because they involve physical activity while playing video games. Some of the big exergames are Dance Dance Revolution and various Wii games. There also other games that involved running, jumping, and moving side to side on a mat, which controlled the player in the game. The games in the center court were also a huge hit because after participating in each game, the kids received various amounts of tickets, which they could put into a raffle to win several different prizes. I think that my favorite prize that was given away was a Spooner board.

In gym D-305 there were wheel chair sports, and in the front dance studio there were mats, tunnels, and other things for toddlers to play with. I was in the gym playin wheel chair sports for a lot of the day, and we played power soccer, wheelchair basketball, an obstacle course, and a little wheelchair whiffle ball. The wheelchair sports where a big hit, and the kids really loved playing power soccer. After a while of playing organized games we just had a free time and allowed parents and kids to play in the wheelchairs and everyone had a great time.

ABCD Day went really well and I'm glad I chose to participate in the event. It was a great experience, and I was able to work with kids with disabilities, which was a first for me. The ages ranged from around 3 or 4 all the way to teenagers, and even the adults got in the mix. I was thanked many times by parents, and they really appreciated us putting this event together.

This coming Sunday, APEM is hosting a Wellnss Day at Park Center, so we hope to have another successful event. I will be presenting wheelchair sports and helping out with a frisbee station. This event is for Cortland teachers, and we hope to have between 30-50 in attendance. The event starts at 11:00 and it is bound to be a great time.