During post-graduate work in the early 1980’s, Minneapolis educator and coach Cathy Peterson took an elective course in Adapted Athletics. As part of the coursework, her professor at Mankato State University had her students write an essay that described a student of theirs that was facing challenges. Peterson dug right in. She shared the journey of a student that had been involved in a house fire. Virtually every part of the student’s body was permanently scarred because of the fire. Peterson provided vivid examples of how the student had limited movement because his skin didn’t stretch. In her paper, Peterson, who would spend her entire iconic career in the Minneapolis Public Schools, weaved in the challenges of other students that used wheelchairs and other types of aides to participate in physical education classes.
