July 30, 2026

For more information, contact:
Laura Brelsford | hcnews@hawks.huntingdon.edu | (334) 833-4563

Purpose Meets Preparation – Adapted Physical Education

Montgomery, AL – Students at Huntingdon College are receiving a premier pre-professional education across all majors to prepare them for the next steps in their careers and callings. The student experience in the classroom, on campus, and through hands-on training are essential to building a strong resume for graduate programs and careers.

While all students are encouraged to experience hands-on opportunities through internships and externships, Huntingdon classes are also building into the curriculum advanced training and experiences to engage in not only professional development but personal development. The Huntingdon course, Adaptive Physical Education, is a shining example of blending the theoretical with professional and personal growth.

Huntingdon Director of Student Access Services and Professor of Physical Education and Sport Studies, Dr. Lisa Olenik Dorman, teaches the course. Her graduate degrees and research were focused on adapted physical activity and disability sport. She currently holds certification through the National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPEID) and is one of only 200 professionals that are nationally certified. Dr. Dorman uses her expertise to guide Huntingdon students through the two-part course; the first half of the semester focuses on foundational learning and skills while the second half includes five clinicals with River Region non-traditional students in elementary, middle, and high school special education classes. The area schools bring their students to Huntingdon’s campus where the Hawks lead classes in physical education activities and programs. Huntingdon students are tasked with not only organizing and leading the activities, but they are also keeping track of individual student progressions and making real time adjustments to meet the non-traditional students where they are in ability. Each class, on average, has around 20 Hawks and a similar size group of students.

Huntingdon’s Adaptive Physical Education class is a required course for several of the College’s majors including; physical education, exercise science-pre physical therapy, human wellness and fitness, athletic training, and sport management. Careers in these fields have opportunities to engage with people in a non-traditional population with disabilities. In the classroom clinicals, Dr. Dorman’s students are building experience and a resume to be steps ahead in their respective fields out of undergraduate coursework in this area and provide an experience component needed for several national and state boards including, the North American Society for Sport Management, the National Athletic Training Association, the Alabama Department of Education, and allied health programs for occupational and physical therapy. Currently, Huntingdon College is the only Alabama college or university to embed this type of clinical into a class experience. Huntingdon students are graduating with expanded skills and abilities to advance graduate research to support non-traditional population groups and to serve a broader population in the field.

While the benefit of organizing, executing, and evaluating during in-class clinicals for Huntingdon students is valuable for advancement in graduate programs, future certifications, and careers, what the Hawks are learning about the people in those clinicals is invaluable. Dr. Dorman’s class is also giving Huntingdon students the confidence to interact with and serve a wider range of people and to meet them where they are in their physical abilities. The Hawks are gaining confidence to be professionals that are unafraid of adapting for the betterment of any patient, client, or student. This class opens doors to a more expansive view of a vocation, giving Hawks the ability to see people as they truly are and how to support everyone in experiencing life to the fullest.

At the end of the course, the Huntingdon students not only evaluate the clinical experience from an academic viewpoint, but they also evaluate their personal experience. The Hawks find that as they have planned for and worked in the clinicals with each local student that they have made personal connections. The Hawks put tremendous work and care into individual plans for each student and get to see and celebrate the student’s successes. It’s difficult to end the semester after bonds are created, but the Hawks know the area students are going to continue to grow with the next Adaptive Physical Education class. To bridge the gap between semesters, Dr. Dorman has the Huntingdon students write a letter to the next semester’s Hawks to share their experiences and advice. The Hawks write what they learned about themselves that they didn’t expect from an undergraduate course; trusting the process and being unafraid to be inventive and adaptable. They are also surprised at the strong connections they made in a short time and their desire for the next Hawks to help “their kids” continue to grow. The letters express gratitude for the course and growth in their preparation for the next career steps, but more than anything, the letters communicate an experience that developed each Huntingdon Hawk to be better prepared to respect, communicate, and support the needs of all people.

In the next few weeks as the Fall 2026 Huntingdon students settle into their classes, the new Adaptive Physical Education Hawks will have the opportunity to read the Spring 2026 letters and begin their individual journey to personal and professional development.

Dr. Lisa Dorman often shares a line from the Walt Whitman poem, “Song of the Open Road” that speaks to the growth she witnesses each semester from her class and the visiting students, “I am larger, better than I thought, I did not know I held so much goodness.”

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