Ben Mortensen Email and Phone Number

My friend Marc and I do school presentations about disabled athletes and our ability to adapt. Marc is an amputee, and I am a paraplegic. Marc is a former paralympic ski team member & I play wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, & handcycle. We tailor all presentations to each school's needs and desires - schedules, curricula, budgets and other social education programs and collaborations. Please check out our website: http://adaptationeducation.org/ Check out some of Marc's journalistic work here: http://adaptiverevolution.com/wordpress1/ View or download a flyer: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z2s6ved6wixs6q1 We speak on all of today's top "disabled to adaptive" sports, characters and technologies. The technological improvement in adaptive devices in the 14 years since my injury is truly mind-blowing. The inspiration, enlightenment, inclusiveness and "can-do" messages contained in our stories, demonstrations, videos, and interactive discussions are invaluable to kids ...and the "across the board" positive testimonies we have received from past school hosts attest to this.

I have organized fundraisers for individuals w/ cancer, Lou Gehrig’s, spinal cord injuries, & MS. I have also organized fundraisers for the research and support of cancer & spinal cord injuries. I have helped dozens of schools & youth sports leagues raise the money they need. I have also helped raise money for a number of disabled sports teams.

Here's what the principal from the Academy for Advanced & Creative Learning had to say about our presentation on January 9th. "As a school focused on integration of big ideas between the disciplines, we seek presentations that are able to provide high quality, challenging and integrated material, and this AD ED presentation captured that very well. We asked Marc and Ben to highlight the role of science in sport, and they included several very tangible examples as well as challenging vocabulary for students that provided excitement and motivation for our students to pursue their own interests in STEAM concepts for their own future education and career fields. One fifth grade girl went home and talked about the presentation for fifteen solid minutes to her mother, and another fifth grade girl shared it as the highlight of her day. Several students stayed afterwards to talk with Marc and Ben about the use of technology and what the future can bring. The use of videos to provide examples of 'adapted' individuals who are using the latest inventions to live their lives was brilliant, and the perspective that Marc and Ben provided as fully vibrant people who live their lives in a different way was exceptional. We fully recommend this program to other schools who are seeking science and STEAM development in their students as well as perspectives for diverse human needs."

I organized & ran after school & summer programs for neighborhood children - computer, GED & ESL classes for children & adults, free breakfasts & dinners among other activities. I built the center & programs from the ground up. I recruited volunteers from the local fraternities, sororities, & high school. I almost exclusively worked w/ children that were labeled as below grade level &/or problem children. I always viewed my students as future innovators not as accidents waiting to happen. I was always able to develop a connection & overcome obstacles to reaching my students. I made quite an impact on each and every child that was a regular member in my programs as a mentor & teacher. I enjoy nothing more than seeing children succeed. Whenever I see one of my students from these programs I feel like Norm from Cheers. I have been able to cultivate some of my own child-like qualities & instinctively know how to build lasting connections w/ my children. I treat my students as intellectual equals, not subjects. I know how to address their intelligences that might not be as developed and build confidence in them. Just as importantly, I know how to switch gears, to attack problems through their more proficient intelligences. I will never stand for an “I can’t” statement from one of my students. Giving students a hand in creating ideas instead of merely in their implementation is incredibly powerful.