Two years ago, residents in Secaucus started calling the mayor’s office with an unusual request. While the town recreation department offered some programs designed for kids with a variety of disabilities, parents began to ask if more could be done.
Mayor Dennis Elwell said the need for an expanded program became evident after the school district began to keep many more of its special needs kids in Secaucus. These kids, classified by the school, had emotional or physical disabilities requiring special educational programs. In the past, they were sent to districts that were better suited for them.
The cost of the outplacement was often prohibitive, requiring the purchase of vehicles and salaries for drivers as well as an aide on each bus. To reduce costs and possibly bring in student tuition from other school districts, Secaucus began to set up its own programs.
"We began getting telephone calls from parents who told us that their kids were getting recreational programs when they were attending the out-of-district schools," Elwell said. "We decided that we could provide that same service here, and that it would be cost effective for the town to do it."
So in addition to educating special-needs students within the school district, the town decided to expand its after-school and weekend recreation programs for such children as well.
Elwell said the Board of Education had been particularly cooperative in helping the town expand its program.
"The board cooperated in helping us design a program that suited the needs of our population," said James Adams, the man the town picked to help develop the program.
Although Adams is employed as the town’s grant writer, he also has extensive experience in recreation and sports as former director for the Jersey City YWCA and organizer of the county’s Special Olympics programs.
"I had some personal experience working with these children," he said.
The 44-year-old Adams is a former athlete at Jersey Academy and Snyder High School and a graduate of Jersey City State college, and for years worked as Jersey City’s special events coordinator. He was credited with helping to restore the Jersey City Y since becoming its executive director in 1993.
Adams brought into the Secaucus program some of the people he worked with in the past, such as Mike Reilly, Jack Leigh, Joanne "Joey" Padilla, Leo Rause, and his son, James Adams III.
Adams described himself as "a big kid," someone who loves weekend cartoons and recreational activities. Although he is a former athlete, he said he prefers to be involved with live programs than sitting at home watching sports on TV.
Adams said, "This program allows [special needs kids] to interact through sports, improving their attention span, their motor skills as well as their social skills."
While the town provides sports for special needs thanks to Bob Cashin in the town’s regular recreation program, the program Adams proposed expands on the concept and adds to it.
"The more the better," Elwell said. "The idea is to get these kids out and into a place where they can have contact with other people. Many special needs kids often find themselves shut in and isolated, and that doesn’t help them at all."
The program began in 2000 as a limited nine-week summer program, but proved so successful, the town brought it back as a weekly program last spring.
In the past, the program has included table tennis, soccer, basketball and other sports.
"This year we’ve included video games," Adams said.
Most of the programs are held on Saturdays in the town’s recreation center on Front street, although some programs such as running are held at the high school, and others such as bowling will be held at a nearby bowling alley.
Bringing in out-of-town kids
The town is seeking to increase participation, and has sent out a letter to the parents of classified kids through the school system. Estimates range between 150 to 200 Secaucus residents that might qualify for the program.
Adams said although the program is currently serving a small percentage, he believes people need to see consistency in the program before sending their kids.
"We need to assure the parents that this program will be there tomorrow," he said. "This has to be something they can count on. People won’t want to get their kids excited about something that won’t be there later."
The town will likely seek to bring in special needs kids from other area towns in order to provide more social interaction and allow for fully developed teams.
Adams said that while the program benefits the kids in Secaucus, the small number of participants often fails to allow the program to initiate games requiring teams.
"How can you have a basketball game with only five players?" he asked.
Making some small changes
One significant change in this year’s program includes a mid-week recreation movie night.
"We will show movies and serve pizza," Adams said.
Elwell has been deeply involved in the program from the start, showing up at Saturday functions to join in, in basketball and other sports.
He said the program has made small changes to adapt to the needs of the students.
Elwell said the first time he went, he realized that in many cases, these kids are bright but simply lack coordination.
"When they got something right, you could see their eyes light up," Elwell said.
He said at one point, the program tried to initiate table tennis, but the staff noticed the students were struggling to keep the ball on the table.
"So we took away the table and let them use the room, then you should have seen them go," Elwell said. "By the end of the day, many of them were bouncing the balls on their paddles, and keeping the ball in the air. I can’t tell you the amount of satisfaction seeing them gave me."
The program is currently being funded by Community Development Block Grants, but Adams – in his role as the town’s grant writer – is seeking other ways to fund an expanded program
Recreation Board established
At its Sept. 24 meeting, the council approved the establishment of a Recreation Advisory Board to address issues concerning scheduling and to set up guidelines for the town’s various recreation programs.
Iacono said that sometimes in the past, programs have overlapped, creating a demand for space on various sports fields.
The committee – which would include the recreation liaison from the council as well as representatives from each of the town’s recreation program – would meet and discuss problems faced by the various groups, then come to the council with a recommendations.
"They would set up policy and procedures that the council would later be asked to approve," Iacono said. "For instance, last year, we had some underage kids drinking in one of the local hotels. Some of these kids were suspended from recreation programs, others were not. This committee would come up with guidelines and policies for such situations."
The committee would also include high school teachers and parents.
Elwell said recreational programs are expanding in leaps and pounds, and in some cases, coaches come and go, leaving no history of what has been done in various situations.
Councilman Fred Constantino, who is the Town Council’s liaison to the recreation department, said the committee would set polices that all coaches would follow. It would also look into issues like burn out among kids, who play two and three sports.,
Iacono said the town council would make the final decisions, but the board would look into all the various aspects and come up with recommendations.