Ask Brad Weiner ’03, M.S.Ed. ’04 for the highlight of his teaching career and he won’t point to the individual recognition that validated him as one of the best young minds in adapted physical education field.
It’s true that in 2013 he won the National Adapted Physical Education Teacher of Year Award, presented by the two most authoritative groups in the discipline, earning the opportunity to travel across the country and present at major research centers. But when Weiner describes his most meaningful work, he thinks back to a 3-year-old girl who could not walk when he met her.
It was several years ago, when Weiner was 25 years old. He was working one-on-one with the toddler, who suffered with a cognitive delay and cerebral palsy, trying to teach her how to balance while standing. They worked together for more than an hour. She wobbled and struggled through most of it. But Weiner’s encouragement never wavered.
Eventually, it happened: the youngster took her first steps and Weiner captured it on video.
“I got to see her first steps,” he said. “And for me, that was amazing — like a proud parent moment.”
He provided the footage, which he records as a standard practice, to the girl’s parents. For Weiner, it was further proof he ended up in the right field.
The Bethesda, Md., resident has been changing the lives of children with disabilities for more than a decade. He splits time teaching physical education at two public schools in Maryland, although most of his time is spent at Stephen Knolls School, a specialty school for students between the ages of 3 and 21 who have multiple cognitive, emotional and physical disabilities.
“The setting I’m in right now, my mindset almost has to be like an engineer’s in trying to figure out how to make it so my students can be as independent as possible,” said Weiner, who taught for nine years in Prince George’s County before moving to Montgomery County in 2013. “The goal is trying to get kids as active as possible knowing that they have limited independence in their functional mobility.”
That means Weiner often has to be creative in modifying physical activities so that his students can participate. This year he wanted to teach a croquet unit, so he created a lever that students could pull to control the mallet. Other popular adapted activities in Weiner’s classes include bocce, bowling, dance, cycling and aquatics.
“What I enjoy and get the most out of is being able to look at something and trying to figure out how to make it work for the child,” he said. “It’s like a puzzle.”
Weiner first was introduced to the adapted physical education discipline as an undergraduate at SUNY Cortland, after transferring from Nassau Community College. It was at the College where he met Timothy Davis, an associate professor of physical education and a nationally respected voice in the field, as well as Tom Moran ’03, M.S.Ed. ’05, a fellow physical education major who was born with cerebral palsy.
Moran, who will be featured in the winter edition of Columns, created a non-profit soccer program as a student that offered clinics across the country for children with disabilities. Weiner joined him as a volunteer, traveling extensively with his classmate for a summer. They bonded over an appreciation for soccer and a desire to share the sport with people who have disabilities.
“Those interactions with him got me interested in adapted P.E.,” Weiner said. “They were probably the best education I got in terms of the practical experience. Sitting down at night and talking about his previous experiences in life, that really impacted my mindset.”
When Weiner was offered his first teaching job, he was attending a conference in Nebraska with Davis and Moran. And when Weiner received the National Adapted Physical Education Teacher of Year Award, Moran presented it.
The honor recognized Weiner’s outstanding teaching ability in addition to several of his community programs that benefit children. He saw a need to introduce physical activity to youngsters before age 8 — the minimum for the Special Olympics — so he started a free adapted sports program in Prince George’s County for children between 3 and 7 years old. Weiner also serves as executive director of Camp Abilities Maryland, an overnight summer camp for children with visual impairments.
The national award afforded Weiner the ability to present his research at universities from coast to coast. He likely will one day pursue a doctoral degree in the adapted physical education discipline, he said. But Weiner said his dream job isn’t college professor or lab researcher; it’s working on the ground level as an adapted physical education teacher or the coordinator of a district’s inclusive curriculum.
“At this level, we’re hoping to get kids as independent as possible in physical activity so that when they leave school, they can be as active in the community as possible,” Weiner said. “When I see a child’s independence shine, that’s what I really get out of it.”