Release Date: January 26, 2011

ILA Spotlight: First Fridays

James Beach, Maeve Connolly, Tess Gale and Cuthbert Langley, students in The Institute for Leadership Advancement’s Certificate for Personal and Organizational Leadership program, collaborated with the Athens Adapted Physical Education Department of the Athens-Clarke County School System for their community engagement project. This team of leadership students planned a series of field trips for students with mental and physical challenges called "First Fridays" to introduce exciting experiences for the adapted P.E. students and build a stronger relationship between the Athens-Clarke County school system and the University.

On October 15, 2010, two groups of adapted P.E. students could hardly contain their excitement to play basketball with UGA basketball players at Stegeman Coliseum. Equipped with autograph books and ear-to-ear grins, the students spent the day in a lively environment of music, basketball drill stations and chances to meet and greet with UGA basketball players. Beach, Connolly, Gale and Langley laid the groundwork for a promising relationship between the Athens-Clarke County School System and the University, and their "First Friday" at Stegeman Coliseum proved to be a hit with the adapted P.E. students. Be sure to check out the "First Fridays" video to see how ILA students are giving back to the Athens community.

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