Employee Testimonials - Adapted Physical Education (APE) Paraeducator

Samuel - Adapted Physical Education (APE) Paraeducator

Samuel Samuel started his journey at Heartspring in March 2006 as a home paraeducator. In August he was hired as the Adapted Physical Education (APE) para. His duties include implementing after school and weekend recreation and leisure activities under the supervision of Heartspring’s APE teacher, Travis Grover.

Samuel applied for the APE para position in hopes of working with all Heartspring students, helping them stay active and enjoy themselves while doing so. “The students get to have fun and they don’t always associate it (activities) with exercise,” said Samuel. “Some of our students’ preferred activities include PE.”

In addition to taking students into the community on outings to places like the zoo, the bowling alley and semi-professional hockey games, Samuel has implemented activities on campus such as aerobics, movie night, karaoke and dances.

“Having Samuel as the APE para has opened up the opportunity for our students to have more structured activities during the weekend and at night,” said Travis. “He has done a great job coming up with new events to keep our kids engaged and active.”

In addition, Samuel assists Heartspring students during Special Olympics competitions locally and at the state level. He has found that all children can be successful through Special Olympics. “It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Most people don’t think our kids can grasp competition, but you see them out there and they do care and compete in their own way.”

At only 19 years old, Samuel has learned a lot about himself as a result of his employment at Heartspring. “At first I wanted to be a counselor, but working in the gym I could see myself being a teacher or a coach.”

Before coming to Heartspring, Samuel worked at a nursing home. He was encouraged by a current staff member, Ryan Littlejohn, to apply at Heartspring. In providing a reference to our staff recruiter, Ryan said that he had observed how caring Samuel was with the clients at the nursing home and knew he would bring that same care to our students.

“I had a little knowledge of what Heartspring did. I am happy I came.” Samuel says that he enjoys setting up activities that are fun for the students.

“I enjoy seeing the kids smile. I'm the guy they come to so they can have fun. I want to make sure they not only interact with each other but with the community as well.”

Since coming to Heartspring, Samuel says he has learned “that this isn't just a job. You have to have a certain passion to work here and I love kids.”

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