Fit Athletics Academy in Dover offers inclusion for everybody
DOVER, Fla. - This is the first year for a unique private high school.
Fit Athletics Academy in Dover is a school with traditional students as well as students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"It's really fun," said Michael Koutselas, student. "I really enjoy the guys love me. They all talk to me. They always say, 'Mike, what's up?' And I really like it."
SFA Academy has traditional students and students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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"We have here on campus an inclusion of everybody, which is really unique about SFA Academy, and it's really a family," Mark Oliver CEO of Fit Athletics Academy said.
It's an opportunity for all students to bond together and learn from each other.
"It's fun, you know, the conversations are different at the same time," said Taylor Poodle, student. "We both interact the same, and it's good to see somebody smiling just as hard as me."
They don't take classes together, but they still find a connection.
Everyone comes together at SFA Academy.
"Treat everyone the same," said Clinton Danzey, student. "Everyone has a heart. You know what I'm saying we're all God's children at the end of the day."
To help create a team atmosphere every student participants in the sports programs.
"They're watching these top tier athletes compete in a sport that they love," explained Oliver. "Not only are they watching them compete and being on the sidelines a part of it, they're also involved with the Special Olympics. So all of our special needs program, every single person here in that program participates in the Special Olympics. So watching to see how hard these D-1 athletes train only inspires them to train just as hard, too."
Students train for the Special Olympics at SFA Academy.
The high school students are coming together to create a special bond.
"We all just want love. We want to feel success and want to feel appreciated. And so that's what we wanted to create here in this atmosphere," Oliver shared.
There are 80 students at the school from across the U.S.
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