Michael A. Iannella This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Hernando: Major leaguers join program for disabled students

   www.stpetersburgtimes.com/2005 - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/6/2005   Last Visited: 5/6/2005

   SPRING HILL - Decades ago, back when gifted athlete Michael A. Iannella was winning varsity letters in baseball and other sports in his hometown, Maplewood, N.J., he noticed how students with disabilities were virtually "put in a room in the dark" after school.
   
   "They'd go home and veg," he said.
   
   That offended his sense of fair play. Iannella conceived a dream.
   
   When he came to the Hernando School District in 1983 as a physical education teacher and coordinator of adapted phys ed, to further his vision he established a program, Special Practices for Special People, at what is now Fox Chapel Middle School.
   
   After school, students and adults with disabilities were encouraged and coached to pursue physical fitness, active recreation and leisure activities, the fine and performing arts, social awareness and socialization among their peers.
   
   Community volunteers and mainstream students were recruited and trained to serve as buddies.
   
   Iannella, who left Hernando to teach in New Jersey in 1994, returned to Fox Chapel recently to announce a new professional sports affiliation for the program, which has been introduced in more than 10 school districts in Florida, as well as school districts in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania.
   ...
   McDonald's signed on as a cooperator in the outreach effort after Iannella made a pitch to the team four years ago.
   ...
   Iannella and Brown lamented that local community participation has dropped off in recent years.
   ...
   Iannella's "spark plug" attitude drove the founding force, Brown said.