Engaging and Empowering Youth Through Sports - Day Four

Today the group spent the entire day at Ashland Elementary School running gym classes for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle School students. We played a variety of games including "angry birds", dodgeball, soccer, and handball. 

The games brought excitement and happiness to the kids, and they were engaged in the competition. We knew the students had a great time by the smiles on their faces and the exhaustion we felt afterwards. 

On the way back, our program leaders rewarded us with ice-cream from Scoops!

Engaging and Empowering Youth Through Sports - Day Three

Wednesday morning we split into three separate groups and brainstormed plans to run an hour long session with children at the Meredith Community Center. We made sure to have a balanced schedule with stretching, fun activities and sports related events. 

Once the plans were finalized, we went as a group to get a quick workout in with Tony. He taught us many new movements and exercises as well as the importance of stretching. After lunch, we watched the documentary Trophy Kids, which shed light on how not to treat young athletes as well as the emotional affect it can have on them. 

Finally, to end the day we went to the Meredith community center to coach the children. Although it was hectic at first, the group came together to run a fun and insightful hour of activities.

                                                    

Engaging and Empowering Youth Through Sports - Day Two

On Tuesday, we traveled down to Sudbury, Massachusetts to Bosse Performance Center. There, we met with Kaillie Briscoe, a training coach who talked to us about our past experience with coaches, what makes a good and bad coach, and how we can empower youth through sports. 

We also got a tour of the complex which included highlights such as their 7,000 square foot turf fields, tennis courts, pool, gyms, and locker rooms. Then we met with another trainer who led us through a warm up and lift. This included sport specific exercises and helped us learn about group management.

On the way back to school we stopped at Chipotle, and watched movies on the way home. We had a great day and learned a lot! 

Engaging and Empowering Youth Through Sports - Day One

On the first day of Empowering Youth Through Sports, our group began outlining the goals we hope to achieve by the end of the week. We planned games in which we will take elementary school students through later on in the week, as we will be leading an after school program and a gym class. After planning, we headed to the field house where we met with trainer Tony Mure. Tony showed us how competition raises participation, by taking our group through various games that got every member of the group involved. 

We then used this idea of competition to stimulate full participation to narrow down the games we would be taking the youth through. Finally, we debriefed with a reflection of what we learned and watched an instructional documentary on the perception of top-notch athletes as superheroes.

Engaging and Empowering Youth through Sports

Hello! Welcome to the first blog post of the New Hampton School project week blog for Engaging and Empowering Youth Through Sports. We are excited to interact and connect with young children and share with them what we learn during this week of experiential learning. 

Essential Question: How does engaging in sports empower youth in all aspects of life? 

This week, we will be investigating our essential question and exploring the various ways young people can benefit through engagement in sports. We will do this by speaking with trainers, learning through doing, and teaching kids.