Adaptive physical education turns MPS students into champions and coaches

Meet student-athletes Joey Goetter and Shevez Johnson.

Shevez plays football, basketball, and runs track at North Division High School, home of the Blue Devils.

“If I were not an athlete, what would I do?”

He thinks about this for a minute—a life without sports. “I would work until I became an athlete. My work ethic is sick.”

Joey, a Rufus King International High School senior, knows the feeling.

Mary Goetter says her son thrives on the rings, pommel horse, and vault at the gymnastics club where he trains three nights a week. He medaled at the 2024 Special Olympics Wisconsin State Bowling Tournament and competes statewide for Wildcard Gymnastics.

On a recent winter afternoon, these MPS student- athletes stepped outside their comfort zone. Joey played volleyball. Shevez coached, one of 30 North Division students volunteering for the Milwaukee Public Schools Adaptive Athletics Program.

Shevez strides through North Division’s gleaming, newly restored fieldhouse. It’s filled with students wearing solid-color Milwaukee Recreation and school-spirit T-shirts. They’re seated in bleachers, clustered around volleyball nets, even setting and spiking in five-on-five games.

“I’ve been volunteer coaching since I was a freshman,” Shevez said. “I come because it’s fun, teaching other kids to play volleyball. They’re joyful, playful.”

The joy of sport is just one advantage.

Leveling the playing field

Adaptive athletics, from Special Olympics medal ceremonies to parachute play in grade school gyms, brings specialized coaching, equipment, and modified rules to sports we play and watch daily: basketball, cheerleading, soccer, swimming.

At MPS schools, adaptations can level the playing field for student-athletes who might have autism, be deaf or hard of hearing, have an orthopedic or other health impairment, or have an intellectual disability that makes learning and playing sports challenging.

Milwaukee Rec hosts more than 30 adaptive athletics events yearly. Events conclude several weeks of study and skill-building in one sport. Some athletes train in a regular-education gym class. Student-athletes who are non-ambulatory or nonverbal may work with adaptive physical education (PE) specialist teachers and special education teachers in smaller classes.

Coaches hope learning about a sport in gym class inspires students to stay active and even compete outside of school.

“We hope kids work at a skill in school, come to adaptive athletics events to perfect skills, and go home and ask their families to sign them up for Special Olympics,” said MPS adaptive athletics coach Roger Masarik. “And we know they’re leaving here with a new understanding about keeping healthy and building community through exercise.”

Milwaukee Rec fields Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI) teams for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Team Milwaukee athletes can learn, train, and compete in 12 sports.

“Special Olympics participation is one goal of adaptive athletics,” said Milwaukee Rec program coordinator Lyndsay Linsmeier, “but the social experience and sense of pride for athletes is just as valuable.”

Volleyball for all

Teachers and coaches describe the Milwaukee Rec events as confidence- and community-building experiences for students.

“I love these events,” said Megan Wolf, a special education teacher at Rufus King International High School. “My students don’t get many opportunities to play sports on a level that will work for them. They can do that here, be and feel like members of a larger community, showing off what they’re great at.”

At the North Division volleyball event, student-athletes can build skills and compete using lower nets or no nets. Another adaptation: using a lightweight ball instead of a 9- to 10-ounce indoor volleyball.

Wolf watches her student, Nick Lelinski, during a 30-minute setting rotation. Student coaches surround the athletes, tossing and retrieving gear, offering tips.

“Create a wide base with your legs.”

“Keep your arms in front.”

“What if you catch the ball?” Wolf asked Nick. “Get ready to pop it right back. Try to hit it upwards.”

Fidel Nieto Solis from Audubon Technology and Communication High School trains in a quiet corner of the gym. He steps out of his wheelchair carefully and looks at teacher Jeff Montgomery. They make eye contact; Fidel shakes his head gently before tossing the ball.

No words are spoken, but the special education teacher gets it.

“Okay, Fidel,” Montgomery said, looking at the observer standing next to him. “No pictures.”

Fidel is one of 4,000 MPS student-athletes, ages 6 to 21, competing for ribbons and certificates this year. Bowling began the 2024-25 adaptive athletics season. To prepare for an October tournament at AMF West Lanes, students learned lane etiquette: Where do you stand when waiting for your turn? When do you roll the ball?

Physical education specialist teachers determine whether an athlete is an intro, level 1, or level 2 competitor.

• Intro athletes need assistance holding and rolling the ball.
• Level 1 athletes use ramps or bumpers.
• Level 2 athletes can roll the ball independently.

Some special education teachers or paraprofessional teachers train as coaches and integrate adaptive PE activities into class time. At Audubon, paraprofessional Quinn Waldlington is taking over coaching duties for Montgomery. He said Waldlington is doing an excellent job running Audubon’s adaptive athletes—sometimes 12 at a time—through training exercises in several sports.

Socializing and joking, too

Many special education students learn and socialize in smaller classroom communities and don’t have the same access to field trips and extracurricular club experiences as their regular-ed peers. By the time high schoolers like Fidel or Nick take the court, they have been through one or two schools. Adaptive events become reunions for them, Milwaukee Rec employee Sherman Dixon said between games he’s refereeing at North Division.

“Hey, Joey,” Dixon joked, “no one likes a showoff!”

Joey smiles at Dixon and gets ready to serve another ball. Many school days, Joey works in the kitchen at Milwaukee Catholic Home; he’s getting on-the-job training through the School to Work Transition Program. At North Division that day, he’s “just” a student-athlete.

“Athletes get to see the kids they went to grade school with,” Dixon said. “They’re together again even though they go to different high schools. It’s a chance to interact with other kids who feel like them, who smile like them, who play as good as they do.”

Get involved

Do you know an athlete who would like to compete for Team Milwaukee?

Learn more at Milwaukee Rec or contact Brenda Seekins at Seekinb@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

MPS educators and administrators who want to bring adaptive athletics and Special Olympics to their district schools should contact Lyndsay Linsmeier at dakela@milwaukee. k12.wi.us.