NYSP

This is is a delayed post from June 25th.

For the past two weeks, ten of us nursing students have been tackling (literally and metaphorically) the approximately 400 kids who attend the National Youth Sports Program here at Case. Every morning we tackle the not so easy task of taking attendance in the very loud and hot Adelbert Gym before tackling the next obstacle of transporting the kids to their various activities. Some nursing students started out in their sport, where they play football, softball, volleyball or swimming with the kids as they rotate through each sport. My group, however, started out in the classroom. We are teaching groups of kids ranging from 15-almost 40 students of ages 10-16 about the importance and impact of physical activity. We have lesson plans tailored to each individual class, because each group of kids has its own personality. Some kids are so eager to learn that we can barely contain their enthusiasm in our tiny windowless classroom, while others are completely content to just toss their hoodie over their head and take a nap (which we do not tolerate by the way). By now, we have discovered effective methods of teaching and maintaining order in the classroom. Some things we've done have been Simon Says with the younger kids to help them learn the different muscle groups and Ride That Pony with everyone to show them how exercise increases your heart rate. In order to emphasize the importance of stretching, we did yoga, and to help them understand BMI, we plotted their BMIs on charts and learned some fun chants, too.

So far I am really enjoying my time here at camp, even though by the time I get home I don't have the energy to do anything except shower and sleep. But I can really tell that these kids look up to us as role models and someone they can open up to, so the complete exhaustion isn't all in vain. I'm looking forward to this coming week when we will be switching out of teaching and rotating through our sport. Since I lack athletic ability to put it nicely, Im going to be helping teach dance aerobics-which is right up my alley. I've been asking the kids about dance class and they love it. The instructor is really good- i see him frequently in Adelbert showing off his skills and teaching kids how to breakdance before starting their day. Maybe by the end of this I'll master the headspin thing he's always doing. Probably not though. What I DO know, though, is if a kid gets injured doing the Dougie, Cat Daddy, Thriller, the Wobble, or the Cupid Shuffle, I'll be the first on the scene.