Professor, community member partner in adaptive PE course

Ricky Price wanted to make his adaptive physical education course more authentic for his Boilermaker Educator students.

“I wanted my students to learn from someone with a disability, not just me,” said Price, an assistant professor of special education in the College’s Department of Educational Studies.

Enter Cooper Gretencord, a local who works at the Lafayette Family YMCA. Gretencord has a mild case of cerebral palsy. He’s worked at the Lafayette Family YMCA for almost eight years, drives, is very outgoing, and wants people to understand more about relating to people with disabilities – in education and in everyday life.

A colleague introduced Price to Gretencord. “At first, it was to find guest speakers for my class, as a big part of my teaching philosophy is to highlight the experiences of those with disabilities,” Price said. “I was pleasantly surprised by how our partnership has grown from that first collaboration, and the projects that we have and are working on!”

Gretencord was intrigued by the possibilities of collaborating with Price and his students. “I wanted to feel an impact doing this,” he said. “Ricky and I started to write a book chapter on my life and my job at the Lafayette Family YMCA and I wanted to bring that into the classroom to make a difference.”

Over the past few semesters, Price has invited Gretencord to  guest speak in his adaptive physical education course, Health, Wellness, and Adaptive Physical Activity (EDPS 326), which is mainly for underclassmen. The goal of the course is to have students acquire skills needed to design and implement effective physical activity and health programming to promote overall student health and wellness. 

In the spring 2026 semester, Price invited Gretencord to co-teach the course. “It was just so cool to see the conversations that they had with Cooper to further their learning,” Price said of his students.

Gretencord agreed that conversations with students was one of the best parts of their collaboration. “My aha moments were the conversations I had with the students in going through this class with them and being able to share my perspectives and thoughts,” he said. “We also paired up students to create a lesson plan related to physical education for students with disabilities.”

The students created these and other lesson plans for students with disabilities.

Gretencord would like to be more involved in the class to get students more engaged and possibly work with others in the College of Education on disability awareness. Price is looking for funding to continue the activities they want to do in the class. 

Besides their classroom collaboration and seeing students grow in their understanding of relating to people with disabilities, Price and Gretencord are collaborating on a book, The Real People of Work. “We are finishing up writing Cooper’s chapters this summer,” Price said. “I am also recruiting more authors with disabilities to write more chapters in the book.”

Most current programs train future professionals using only fictional case studies and books written by non-disabled people, so this book changes that narrative, with first-person accounts of chapters written by people with disabilities about their lives related to work.

Price’s book is meant specifically for classroom and training use. It’s aimed at university courses in special education, rehabilitation counseling, and disability studies, as well as professional development for teachers, job coaches, and vocational counselors. Gretencord’s chapter is about his life and his journey to where he is now at the Lafayette Family YMCA working as a Healthy Living Assistant Director and Personal Trainer.

A third facet of their collaboration is what they plan for the future. “I want to continue collaboration with Cooper in co-teaching this  course,” Price said. “We have already begun planning for the spring of 2027 and I am very excited about some new ideas we plan to execute.”

Gretencord agreed, and added that they are working together on a partnership with the Lafayette Family YMCA. “I am excited to be putting a project together in which our class will come to the Y to put on an physical education class for those with disabilities,” he said.

Price described the project as a six-week, 1.5-hour program offered every other week, in which the Purdue students would be the ones creating and putting on the program. They will plan and create new lesson plans then implement the plans when they lecture.

“We are very excited about what this is going to be – it’s going to be focused on health and wellness,” Price said. “Dr. Price cares deeply about his students and has used this collaboration to enrich their experience in adaptive physical education,” said Christine Rienstra-Kiracofe, head of the College’s Department of Educational Studies.

Gretencord values the collaboration with Price and the Purdue College of Education.

“I’ve gotten more comfortable speaking in front of others and have worked on problem solving skills,” Gretencord said. “This experience has also helped me give back to my community.”

He believes the collaboration is valuable because of what the students learn about people with disabilities.

“To have the students actually meet someone with a disability who is teaching them gives them the opportunity to learn from someone with a disability and that there are difficulties but those with disabilities still have a life worth living,” Gretencord said.

Source: Ricky Price and Cooper Gretencord