Program’s initial implementation scheduled for Special Olympics Missouri fall games
Five Missouri State University students will implement their “Fitness Improvement Training (F.I.T)” project during the Special Olympics Missouri fall games held Nov 20-21. The students developed the program during an eight-week summer internship in Washington, D.C., to offer individuals with intellectual disabilities the information and skill necessary to choose a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Tamara Arthaud, acting department head of the counseling, leadership and special education department, will lead the students in initiating follow-up events for the southwest Missouri area that utilize the project. The Special Olympics Missouri fall games will be the first opportunity for the group to put F.I.T into practice.
The project will target areas of need for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the southwest Missouri region, where few opportunities exist to address the need for continuing education and training in health and fitness.
Participants in the Special Olympics Missouri fall games will receive fitness, nutrition and sport assessments. They will be provided with their results and information about becoming more physically fit, healthier and adept in the sports of their choice.
“The five interns who were selected to develop a health and fitness educational program for persons with intellectual disabilities did an outstanding job,” said Arthaud. “They are currently hard at work developing the first implementation of their project in southwest Missouri.”
F.I.T was successfully developed by the five interns through cross-departmental cooperation at Missouri State. The students are:
- Alexander Beckman, special education major of Springfield
- Jacob Conklin, special education major of Moberly
- Sarah Scherer, exercise and movement science major of Benton
- Lindsey Jurgensmeyer, dietetics major of Montrose
- Lindsay Coats, dietetics major of Mountain Grove
The new venture by Missouri State was set in motion after a university special education alumnus, David Lenox, vice president of sport at International Special Olympics, provided the internship opportunity for the students. The group’s goal is to take F.I.T to an international level and implement the project at Special Olympics events worldwide.
“I am looking forward to seeing the F.I.T. program in action at the Special Olympics Missouri fall games in November,” said Arthaud.
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