Special Education students at Westbury High School will have the opportunity to participate in sports for the first time.
Westbury’s Challenger Athletic program, part of the state-wide Challenger program to get special education students active in sports, puts special education students on a team to play modified games against other school districts. Seven students from Westbury will play four soccer games throughout October.
Ryan Mulholland, a special education teacher at the school and coach of Westbury’s challenger soccer team, said the team has the full support of the district’s athletic department and administration.
“This will be a very special opportunity for these scholar athletes as they will have a chance to represent their school for the first time,” he said.
Mulholland said more than two dozen districts in Nassau County participate to some degree in the program.
He said 2025-26 is the school’s second year that Westbury High School has had its life-skills program in-house rather than sending students to other buildings as had been the practice.
The high school’s life-skills program prepares students for post-high school independence and employment, focusing on essential skills like academic readiness, life skills and vocational training.
Mulholland said the program will allow students to play soccer during the fall season, basketball during the winter season and track during the spring season.
He said the students participating on the team have been excited for the games to start.
“They’ve been extremely receptive to it,” he said. “They love talking about it all the time.”
And Mulholland said that it isn’t just the seven students who are excited about this. He said students and staff have seen flyers for the games around the school.
“I think that it’s really something that is galvanizing, brings people together, and I think it’s really exciting for the students because we want to give them an opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities,” he said.
