Presenters of Placement for Children with Disabilities

Luis Columna, a native of San Juan Puerto Rico, is currently an Associate Professor in the Exercise Science Department at Syracuse University. Prior to coming to Syracuse, Professor Columna was an Associate Professor at SUNY Cortland, NY. He is proud to be one of a few Hispanic Physical Education faculty at a Carnegie Classified RU/H Research University. Throughout his doctoral studies, he taught adapted physical education in the Denton, TX public schools.  His research focuses on ways to increase the participation of families (especially Hispanic) of children with disabilities into physical activity and also his research focuses on ways to better prepare teachers to work with diverse populations.

Columna is committed to providing service learning opportunities for students, which he does through the Cortland Adapted Swim Team, the Migrant Education Outreach Program, and SUNY Upstate Medical group visits. He also infuses Spanish and sign language into his courses so that students will develop important cross-cultural communication skills. Luis was the recipient of the "Leadership in Civic Engagement" award at SUNY Cortland.

Timothy D. Davis, Ph.D., CAPE has earned his bachelors and masters degrees in Physical Education/Adapted Physical Education from California State University at Chico and a PhD in Adapted Physical Education from the University of Virginia.  He has been teaching in the field of Adapted Physical Education for over twenty years.  He teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses at State University of Cortland located in Upstate NY. 

Tim is the national chair of the Adapted Physical Education National Standards (APENS) Program and oversees the national standards and certification process in Adapted Physical Education sponsored by the National Consortium on Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPERID).

Tim has created school partnerships in APE and has partnered with SUNY Upstate to develop the Fit Families Program that addresses the needs of children and their families with spina bifida. Most recently, Tim received the Rozanne Brooks Distinguished Teaching Professor Award and was awarded the William A. Hillman Distinguished Service award through NCPERID.

They will be the presenting the AAPAR/AAHPERD webinar: Placement for Children with Disabilities on December 6, 2012 at 1:00 PM EST. Register today!