By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—With the help of the Lakeshore Foundation’s Mary Allison Cook and Allison Hoit Tubbs, students at Greystone Elementary School brainstormed and discovered ways to make the sports they love accessible to their friends with disabilities on Friday, Oct. 23.

“We adapt sports and recreational opportunities so… everyone can be included (and) make sure (everyone) is a part of what we’re doing,” Cook said to the students, explaining the mission of the Lakeshore Foundation.

Students discovered beep baseball, an adapted hand-peddle bike and a specially-designed wheelchair for soccer. Cook, a gold medalist and former member of the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team, challenged students to look for creative ways to make activities all-inclusive.

The Oct. 23 program with the Lakeshore Foundation capped off the school’s Challenge Week. From Oct. 19-23, students learned about overcoming challenges through a variety of speakers and activities.

“It was one of those brainchild ideas of mine. I wanted our kids to be challenged in many different ways,” Greystone Elementary resource and enrichment teacher Mandy Fox said. “A challenge, no matter how it looks on the outside, can be overcome.”

Challenge Week kicked off with a presentation from Ricky Trione, a veteran and blind artist from Fairhope. Students learned how he used touch to paint, and were challenged to create their own paintings.

Students also heard from wheelchair-bound UAB football player Timothy Allen, the Spain Park High School basketball team, meteorologist James Spann and Pikes Peak stock-car racer Layne Schranz.

In addition to the presentations, students completed challenges in breakout sessions, including constructing a tower using uncooked noodles and marshmallows, creating a working parachute and building a structure using only cardboard. The projects were designed to inspire teamwork and creativity.

“The creativity that came out of that was amazing,” Fox said, noting the students’ diverse cardboard creations, ranging from a joke machine to an airplane complete with a movable propeller.

Challenge Week was not just fun for students, Fox said teachers enjoyed seeing students challenged in new ways outside of the classroom.

“They love it, it’s a lot of fun, but it’s good stuff,” Fox said. “It’s teaching (the students) the same things they’d be learning in the classroom, but in a different way.”