Building up kids’ lives
BY COMBINING his skills as a physical therapist and trained carpenter, Michael Konstalid helps scores of disabled students in city schools feel like they are part of the crowd.
That includes crafting a rolling staircase so one physically disabled youngster didn’t have to be carried on and off the bus every day. And he created a special lunch tray holder for wheelchairbound students to manage their meals without help.
“A lot of the things I do are simple solutions,” said Konstalid.
“These kids have enough difficulties in their life — they don’t need more.”
Since October, Konstalid, 36, has created more than 80 pieces of equipment and visited close to 40 city schools.
He custom makes each one from old chairs, doors and other discarded items.
Konstalid’s innovative efforts to help students have earned him a nomination for a Daily News Hometown Heroes in Education Award.
Parents, students and educators across the city are nominating exceptional teachers and other school staffers for the award.
Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges in August and honored at a starstudded breakfast Oct 1.
Konstalid grew up in Brooklyn and spent time in his father’s carpentry workshop with his three brothers.
“We didn’t buy new things, we fixed what we had,” he said.
“We had opportunities to work in the shop and be creative.”
Both of his parents had physical disabilities, sparking his interest in the field.
His “upcycling” efforts are just part of Konstalid’s responsibilities as a senior physical therapist and senior instructional therapist based at Public School 10 and P.S. 280 in Brooklyn.
He also has a caseload of young students he helps master skills hampered by balance and coordination issues stemming from cerebral palsy as well as other conditions.
Konstalid, the father of a young daughter, was heartbroken to see a second grader separated from her classmates during daily rug time.
The child's muscle condition made it difficult for her to join in.
“She was starting to withdraw cognitively and socially because she was sitting away from the rest of the class in a chair,” he said.
He created a “floor chair” for her and a spare for other students so she wouldn’t feel singled out.
“So many kids wanted to sit in that seat, they started a sign up sheet,” he said proudly.
“Her mother told me I gave her daughter rug time.”