Special Needs Campers get MTSU Experience with Dance, Agriculture and More

After a few years’ hiatus, Tom Black, associate professor of special education, brought back the College of Education’s Inclusive College Experience camp this summer to give special needs campers a week to experience life as a Blue Raider.

Campers who attended the Middle Tennessee State University Inclusive College Experience camp show off their abstract art creations at the College of Education building June 23, 2023, on campus. (MTSU photo by Stephanie Wagner)

“We offer this camp because campers are the age the typical high school students would be when they are thinking about going to college,” said Black of the campers ages 16 to 25 with intellectual disabilities. “We want to give them the experience of what typical individuals will be doing at this stage of their lives and help them understand what the college experience is.”

Black said the work of the 10 volunteer counselors — made up of local special education teachers, some of them alumni, and high school students — along with support from faculty and staff within the college and in other MTSU departments made it possible to treat the 16 campers to a number of activities across campus.

Campers completed a photography workshop with the Photography Program and applied their skills to taking photos and creating their own personal slideshows, he said. They attended a dance workshop with the Department of Theatre and Dance, climbed the rock wall at the Campus Recreation Center, played in the game room at the Student Union Building, ate with some MTSU football players at McCallie Dining Hall, created abstract art with staff from Borderless Arts Tennessee and even enjoyed some quality time with goats and sheep.

Campers from Middle Tennessee State University’s Inclusive College Experience camp pet a goat with Alanna Vaught, far left, instructor at MTSU’s School of Agriculture, this June on campus. (MTSU photo by Nathan Estus)

“Dr. Alanna Vaught with the School of Agriculture taught them a lot about animals, and they also got to propagate their own plants,” Black said.

Emily Stock, a special education teacher with a decade in the classroom, said she returned to her alma mater to volunteer as a counselor for the second time because she is passionate about this population having access to more post-secondary activity options.

“Coming back to MTSU … and seeing how everything is expanding around is really cool,” said Stock, who graduated from the college in 2013. “I’ve loved learning how inclusive MTSU is. They’ve really done a great job of expanding and making it accessible for everybody.”

Black highlighted that providing campers with the college experience goes beyond academics.

Campers from Middle Tennessee State University’s Inclusive College Experience camp take a dance workshop at the university’s Department of Theatre and Dance this June on campus. (MTSU photo by Nathan Estus)

“Their exposure to being around other people on campus is a learning experience for them, but I think it’s even more so a learning experience for MTSU students and faculty to get to know these campers,” he said. “We’re all here from different backgrounds, diverse backgrounds to learn from each other, and I think that’s a critical part of the college experience that’s true not just for people with disabilities, but for anybody that chooses to attend a university.”

Black’s goal is to partner with even more programs across campus for future camps.

“I think there’s some great opportunities not just for our education program but across campus for people in other disciplines and majors … to share their expertise and what they’ve learned at MTSU with other diverse groups like this.”

To learn more about opportunities at the Department of Elementary and Special Education, visit the website at https://www.mtsu.edu/elementary/. To learn more about opportunities at the College of Education, visit the website at https://www.mtsu.edu/education/ or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MTSUEducation/.