Weber State professor honored for enriching lives of children with disabilities
OGDEN, Utah — A physical education professor at Weber State University is being recognized for his commitment to the community via his landmark work on behalf of children with disabilities.
James Zagrodnik will receive the 2023 John A. Lindquist Award presented by the Center for Community Engaged Learning during CCELebration, an annual banquet that celebrates students, faculty, staff, alumni and local partners who are doing incredible work in their community.
This year’s banquet will be held 12–2 p.m. on March 30 in the Shepherd Union Ballrooms at the WSU Ogden campus.
CCEL has also selected recent Weber State graduate Benjamin “Drake” Regalado Alton to receive the Ivory Prize, which recognizes excellence in leadership and community engagement.
Lindquist Award
Zagrodnik has been a part of Weber State’s physical education faculty since 2011. In 2013, he co-founded Children’s Adaptive Physical Education Society!, better known as CAPES!, which pairs children who have developmental disabilities with WSU students who are studying education. The pairings last 10 weeks each fall and spring semester, giving students the opportunity to teach critical skills in a safe and fun environment.
Since its launch, CAPES! has delivered on its goal to not only increase the independence of each child in the program, but also to enhance WSU students’ knowledge and application of various teaching and learning theories for individuals with disabilities. So far, over 800 students have accumulated more than 18,000 hours of one-on-one interaction with local children and their families.
“Dr. Zagrodnik is an exemplar for dynamic community engagement, bringing together students, children with disabilities, and their families through the CAPES! program,” said Kristin Hadley, Dean of the Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education. Each semester there are students who change their major to teaching or special education because of their experience in CAPES!, she added.
Kaitlyn Standifird, a WSU student involved in CAPES!, said Zagrodnik has had a significant impact on her life: “He makes you want to be a better student, teacher, and most importantly, person,” she said.
Aside from CAPES!, Zagrodnik created and ran a summer camp for Ogden’s at-risk youth and also co-created a podcast, Wildcat Conversations: Racism, where he interviews faculty, staff, students and community members on racial issues. He also works with community groups, such as Youth Impact and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, helping students develop after-school programs for gifted students.
He also became a Certified Adaptive Physical Educator and has presented his methods at national conferences related to teaching pre-service teachers how to work with individuals with disabilities. His scholarly work focuses on the impact of CCEL-based pedagogies on pre-service teachers among individuals with disabilities, and he’s presented these methods at eight national conferences.
“I am convinced that my ultimate job is to enhance the lives of others. I am equally convinced that I cannot do that without performing community engaged-based practices,” Zagrodnik said. “I often find myself asking this to my students and myself: If we are not making a difference in ourselves, others and our community, what then are we doing it for?”
Zagrodnik’s upcoming projects include creating an immersive study abroad program with the University of Otago in New Zealand to learn more about health, physical education and recreation for the Māori people and how these beliefs relate to the beliefs of the five indigenous tribes of Utah. He also chairs a WSU coalition to create a Multi-Sensory Environment for the campus and community to utilize.
Ivory Award
In 2021, Benjamin “Drake” Regalado Alton was a junior at Weber State, working toward his degree in biochemistry, when he founded the Regalado Foundation, a non-profit organization which helps underrepresented students in the Ogden area pursue higher education.
“I come from an immigrant family and have always had a passion for helping people who are new to this country,” Alton said. “My dad immigrated to the United States from Honduras as a teenager to receive an education, and there is a huge population of people like him in Ogden. I thought to myself, if I struggled to figure out my own career path, how much more would people who are new to this educational system struggle to find theirs?”
Though Alton is not a first-generation student, he was the first in his family to be born in the U.S., and often found it difficult to navigate college. His goal with the foundation was to give students an easier start with higher education than he did through guidance, mentorship and aiding with scholarship applications.
In 2022, the Regalado Foundation, which relies 100% on the work of volunteers, was able to provide four students from immigrant families with $1,000 college scholarships and aided 20 more in getting scholarships from Ogden-Weber Technical College. With the additional money Alton has raised for the foundation, he expects the number of awards the foundation offers this year to nearly triple.
“I have been teaching Spanish for 40 years and have seldom had the privilege of working with students as outstanding as Drake,” said Thomas Mathews, WSU Spanish professor. “I have no doubt of the impact his work will have for heritage Spanish speakers in the Weber State area, and I look forward to seeing the benefits of the work that Drake and his foundation will inspire.”
Alton graduated from WSU in December 2022 and plans to begin medical school at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine this summer. He hopes to one day work in the medical field at a university. In his free time, he enjoys reading and taking jiu-jitsu classes.
“The work I have done with this organization is one of my biggest and proudest accomplishments,” Alton said. “Nothing has brought me more satisfaction than helping young students in my community succeed.”
Read more information on the Lindquist and Ivory awards.
Staff report, Marketing & Communications
- Contact:
Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu