Grant gets special needs kids on the slopes

MAT-SU — Talking to Christopher Stewart, you get the sense he’s standing on the cusp of something big.

Stewart teaches physical education at a handful of Valley schools.

For the past four years he’s been taking groups of special education students to Girdwood to ski and snowboard through the nonprofit Challenge Alaska.

He said he has to go to Girdwood since the Valley doesn’t have a formal ski area. But Challenge Alaska is also a great program that has been teaching winter sports to special needs kids and adults for years.

Stewart said those trips were usually once or twice a year. This past winter he brought it to the next level, bringing 80 kids from eight Valley schools to Alyeska.

Stewart said the whole thing started with the Mat-Su Health Foundation.

That organization has been giving grants to schools for years. It wasn’t hard to get the money, but it was usually a relatively small amount — $500 or so twice a year.

“Every single school has been awarded grants from the Mat-Su Health Foundation,” Stewart said.

He’d gotten money from the organization to run the ski trips. But during the most recent grant-writing cycle he put in for quite a bit more than he had in the past — just under $10,000. He said the money was enough to pay for everything — a lift ticket, an instructor, equipment rentals and transportation.

Which means that the parents weren’t burdened at all. Many can’t afford even the $50 it would take to participate.

“Fifty bucks is still a lot,” Stewart said. “That grant was an enabling factor that allowed us to open it up to a lot more students.”

He said the trips are tremendous confidence-boosters for the students. It shows them they can participate in a complicated, physically demanding activity. And the results are immediate.

“It’s been tangible, from the next day (I’ve noticed) a difference in the way kids are walking down the hallway,” Stewart said.

They also are more likely to interact with the peers, to help other kids accomplish tasks and thereby make friends. He sees the difference in his PE classes.

“They don’t hide during games,” he said. “They do the exact opposite.”

He said that with the success of this year’s grant he’s got his eyes set on the next round. The maximum he can apply for is $15,000. And he thinks he’s going to go for it.

“Maybe I won’t get exactly that, but maybe I can double those trips,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.