HARRISONBURG, VA. (Rocktown Now) — Kinesiology students from James Madison University are teaming up with members of the Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball team to help elementary students in Harrisonburg.

JMU Kinesiology professor Cathy McKay explained that the wheelchair basketball exhibition helps kids with disabilities through parasports. “When we utilize sports to introduce the concept of parasports and disability sports, student’s perceptions about disabilities and individuals with disabilities start to shift because they start to see those with disabilities are athletic and strong.”

McKay wrote a teaching grant in order to involve her students, for example health and physical education teacher education students, but also have a collaborative community partnership with Harrisonburg City Public Schools, specifically with health and physical education. “It’s really an awesome partnership because community engagement is one of the things we strive to do at JMU.”

The partnership has already been at Stone Spring Elementary just a few weeks ago. The Charlottesville Cardinals and JMU students will be at Keister Elementary on Thursday and Bluestone Elementary on Friday.

McKay says she hopes to bring meaningful awareness of disability sport. “We accomplish this with meaningful contact with athletes with disabilities so we can shape the perceptions of “normal” and “abnormal” that society places on physical activity and athleticism. So often we make assumptions that individuals with disabilities that are incorrect and by slowly changing the attitudes and perceptions of disabilities through disability sport and education, it really allows students to shift those perceptions and have much more inclusive attitudes.