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Madison Middle School students partake in a game of wheelchair basketball as part of a special assembly from Skool Aid. 

Skool Aid Director of Programming Jacob Counts is a retired Paralympian and professional wheelchair basketball player.

According to Skool Aid representatives, Middle Schoolers are the perfect age for their wheelchair basketball assembly. 

Students compete for the ball in wheelchair basketball.

Ian Smith (right) is the founder and executive director of Skool Aid. Originally a special education teacher, Smith created Skool Aid due to his passion for working with large groups and a "fun first) approach to education.

Skool Aid offers a wide variety of programming for various age groups. 

Madison Middle School students partake in a game of wheelchair basketball as part of a special assembly from Skool Aid. 

Skool Aid Director of Programming Jacob Counts is a retired Paralympian and professional wheelchair basketball player.

According to Skool Aid representatives, Middle Schoolers are the perfect age for their wheelchair basketball assembly. 

Students compete for the ball in wheelchair basketball.

Ian Smith (right) is the founder and executive director of Skool Aid. Originally a special education teacher, Smith created Skool Aid due to his passion for working with large groups and a "fun first) approach to education.

Skool Aid offers a wide variety of programming for various age groups. 

On Tuesday morning, the roar of the crowd could be heard from outside the walls of Madison Middle School. After the excitement died, a stream of grinning students poured from the gym, excited that they had just got to watch — or even participate in — a wheelchair basketball game.

It was part of a special assembly hosted by Skool Aid, a group that runs various programs about disability awareness.

Skool Aid brought their wheelchair basketball assemblies to Clark Moores Middle School and Madison Middle on March 6 and March 7. They will be coming back to hold different programs for Madison County Schools nearly every week for the rest of the spring semester.

"It is really just to bring awareness to disabilities, bring a little empathy to students by teaching them what it's like to be in a wheelchair in a fun way," said Madison Middle and Clark Moores Youth Services Center Director Kimberly Quinlan. "We are hoping that this will teach the students to be a little more open-minded and understanding when they come across other people with disabilities.”

As part of the assembly, students and teachers are placed on two teams led by Counts and Smith. They then compete against each other in a game of wheelchair basketball. 

However, before the game began, Paralympian Jacob Counts took questions from the audience of students and teachers regarding his experience using a wheelchair and living with a disability. 

The discussion was frank, with Counts giving responses on everything from how he feels about locations that lack disability accommodations to maneuvering through different terrain in his wheelchair. 

While the games are fun, the learning experience is Skool Aid’s mission to dispel myths surrounding people who live with disabilities.

The organization began in 2011 when Executive Director Ian Smith transitioned from a career as a special education teacher to create the organization. The program was born when he discovered that he had a passion for working with large groups of students and taking a "fun first" approach to learning.

"We offer over 50 different types of enrichment classes. Whether it be art, or music, or dance, or wellness yoga... This program today is our disability awareness program. We play wheelchair basketball with the kids. We talk about the power of positivity, being there for other people, and celebrating differences," Smith said. "Differences are what make life cool. Everybody is different; let’s celebrate that rather than being weirded out by it.”

Skool Aid has visited over 400 schools across Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. The disability awareness programs received a boost when Smith's childhood friend and venerated Counts joined up as the director of programming. 

"I had done a similar wheelchair basketball program in college, so when I moved back to Kentucky in 2014, I told Ian that I had an idea for something we could do with Skool Aid. We kind of took it from there and have been able to build it more each year after that," Counts said. 

Counts and Smith also started the Cincinnati Dragons youth wheelchair basketball team that same year. Smith, while not disabled, has also developed a passion for playing wheelchair basketball. According to the duo, their work in schools around the region has helped them recruit players for the Cincinnati Dragons and also spread the word about wheelchair basketball.

In their travels, Smith and Counts often encourage students with disabilities to try their hand at wheelchair basketball.

"It's been great getting all the kids to do something that they didn't expect and then join it. A lot of times, it bridges the gap between students when they get to play. Whether that's cultural differences or ability differences, a lot of the time when they're on the court doing something fun together, they realize how much they have in common," Counts said. 

Counts is a lower extremity bilateral amputee. After an accident in his teens, Counts's right leg was amputated below the knee, while his left leg was amputated above the knee. He first started playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 19, going on to become the NCAA's wheelchair basketball player of the year while playing for Wisconsin Whitewater and participating in the Paralympics in 2008.

"I was really lucky to have a ton of opportunities playing wheelchair basketball. From being in the Paralympics in 2008 to getting to travel a lot and make friends around the world. I got to play in Italy for five years. It afforded me a ton of opportunities," Counts said. "I knew when I retired from playing I wanted to coach... So to just kind of create some more opportunities to help the younger generation to get the chance to follow the same path I did was really appealing." 

According to Smith, Skool Aid's wheelchair basketball program is particularly popular with middle school-aged kids.

"Their minds are going to be more open when they want to be here. That is what Skool Aid in general is about – having fun first. The kids want to learn, they just want to have a good time doing it. And I think this presentation — the way we put it together — I think it does present itself to make it work that way," Smith said.

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