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Adaptive PE flourishes at Hartnell College
Hartnell program focuses on student health and fitness
Few instructors have more compassion and understanding of their students' needs than Hartnell College's Melissa Stave.
An instructor for 21 years in adaptive physical education at the 7,900-student campus in Salinas, Stave works with students who have heart disease, chronic pain and a variety of physical and psychological disabilities.
 Rod Rozin and Melissa Stave in the weight room. Rozin is a regular participant in the Hartnell College adapative PE program and credits it for not only improving his health and fitness but his outlook as well. Below, Ann Brown works out while instructor Yvonne Reid supervises.
Over the years, Stave has come to know the best way to assist each of her students in reaching their maximum fitness goals. But when Stave suffered a debilitating back injury in 1992, she learned firsthand what it meant to have chronic pain herself - and to recover from it.
And, last year, when she developed lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, she was once again reminded of what many of her students face.
More empathy
"When I had my back injury, I really understood chronic pain, and I became better at my job. Having lupus, right now, I know I'm better at my job than I have ever been. I have so much more empathy for my students," Stave said.
 Over the years, Stave, along with her colleague, Yvonne Reid, and Wayne Davis, coordinator for the department's Disabled Students Programs and Services, have built adaptive PE at Hartnell into a well-recognized program throughout the community. Leaders of the program took a long look at the needs of the surrounding community as well as the needs of students on campus. They looked at the absentee rate and polled students and the community as to what their needs were. From there, Davis, Stave and Reid, working with Marv Grimm, the dean of PE and athletics, looked at ways to enhance the program. The result has been a major increase in offerings for students - and a steady stream of students of diverse ages and physical backgrounds. Older adults travel from areas outside of Salinas for their cardiac rehabilitation exercises while younger full-time students on campus use the facilities and Stave's expertise to manage their disabilities. Diabetic students have special swimming activities in the Olympic size pool while others in need of strength, flexibility or conditioning training take advantage of circuit endurance equipment or the newly installed climbing wall. Stave and the staff also work with athletes who compete in the Special Olympics as well as college athletes who are recovering from injuries. Some students have mobility problems bad backs while others are building their strength for keyboarding at the computer.
Keeping students in class
"There are many students who can't sit through class, or can't stand, or get across campus. Melissa helps keep them in the classroom," Davis said.
The program has also helped Hartnell's reputation in the community.
"Beyond being a vital and integral program on campus, our adaptive PE program is drawing people from all over the community. They are coming to Hartnell not just for education, but for their health. We are really educating the whole person," said Hartnell College President Ed Valeau, who was in recently to have his blood pressure checked by Stave.
Anne Brown, a retired special education teacher in town, discovered the program in 1989 and has made it a mission to inform as many people in the community as possible. She comes regularly to use the exercise equipment and to walk around the track.
Best value in town
"For $11 a credit, this is by far the best value in town. I'm excited when I come in here at 7 o'clock in the morning and there are people here in their 80s who are working out. People are learning they can extend their lives through exercise," Brown said. "I'm constantly telling the public this is down here. This is really a hidden treasure."
Looking at the busy gym, it's hard to imagine the program is hidden at all. The place is humming with activity as young, middle-aged and elderly people chat with each other during their exercise regime. Unlike other colleges, Hartnell follows an inclusion model where able-bodied students share the gym with less able-bodied students.
 Hartnell College President Ed Valeau stops by to get his blood pressure checked by Melissa Stave.
"It provides for a lot more interaction," Stave said, while pointing out that 10 percent of the population has some physical disability and as much as 100 percent of the population is injured at one time or another.
The program not only helps students increase their mobility, agility and strength, it also helps others with improving their outlook.
Developing a positive attitude
Rod Rozin of King City is attending Hartnell full-time after being sidelined from work due to an injury. In the process of recovering from his injury, he developed pneumonia, which infected his heart causing a heart condition in this relatively young man. Years earlier, he had also had a leg amputated.
"I knew I had to learn about the problems I was having with my heart and to take it at a slow pace. Gradually, I began to build my endurance while significantly lowering my blood pressure," Rozin said.
"All of this has helped me physically, but what it's really done is to help me build a positive attitude," he said. "Here, I see all kinds of people and they help me. I find myself thinking, 'if they can do it, I can do it.' It can be very humbling."
The team at Hartnell is constantly working together to improve the program. Reid, a specialist in nutrition, hopes to add a weight management component to the program. Meanwhile, due to ties she has developed with local physicians, Stave continues to build the cardiac rehabilitation program. Plans are also underway to build a therapeutic pool for those with arthritis and other conditions who would benefit from warmer water.
"Our adaptive PE faculty are truly visionary," said President Valeau. "They've really gone beyond what they've even set out to do."
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