If you show up to the Teton County Community Recreation Center and the climbing gym on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, you will find hordes of middle schoolers participating in Climbing Club. They are learning how to belay, practicing rope safety skills, and challenging themselves to climb the next grade. This is not necessarily unusual in a town like Jackson. But if you look closely, you may see a 12 year old boy with Down Syndrome scampering his way up the wall and carefully downclimbing alongside his peers. This little boy is Crosby.

Crosby is an active kid. He climbs, skis, dances, and swims. For Crosby, activities and sports are more than exercise, they are a way for him to build confidence, explore his independence, and connect with his community. Being able to participate in activities means he is not only developing physical skills, but also growing socially and emotionally, alongside kids his own age.

Inclusion in recreation gives Crosby something else too: it gives him a sense of belonging. He is not separated from his peers or placed in a parallel experience, climbing on a roped-off wall by himself, or splashing in a different pool while his peers go down the water slide. He is learning and recreating in the same spaces as his friends and siblings. That shared experience allows him to practice communication, self regulation, and cooperation in real time, skills that carry far beyond the climbing wall or the pool. But he needs the support, and specialized instruction to make that possible.

Crosby’s inclusion also has an impact beyond his own experience. His peers get to see what is possible when someone is given the accommodations they need. They learn that disability does not mean inability, and that participation can look a little different from one person to the next. These moments, often quiet and unremarkable on the surface, can help shift perspectives and over time, they foster a more welcoming community, on the individual level and as a whole.

This summer, Crosby attended Camp Jackson, an experience made possible through the addition of Inclusion Counselors. Camp provided him with the opportunity to spend his days with other campers in a supportive environment that understood his needs. For Crosby, this meant having the space to process and regulate emotions while still being fully included in the rhythms of camp life. For his family, it meant knowing he was safe, supported, and truly part of the experience.

Over time, the Rec Center has become a place where Crosby is seen and known. It is a space where he feels comfortable. Both Teton Adaptive and the Rec Center have worked hard to make the community space a place that everyBODY can benefit from. The work has meant that community members like Crosby can thrive in the environment, and feel safe enough to learn and play. The familiarity and consistency matter. While Crosby benefits from specialized, one-on-one, instruction, access to peers his own age is essential to his social development and overall well being.

Watching Crosby climb, swim, and move confidently through his community is a reminder that inclusion works best when it is intentional, patient, and rooted in relationship. With the right supports in place, kids like Crosby are not just participating. They are belonging.

Building Belonging- Crosby’s story

Pierre’s journey back to the mountains