Alone we can do so little;together we can do so much- Helen KellerWhat I do: I go to River's Way once a week. While I'm there I help the kids with their yoga exercises and cardio workouts. Many of the kids know what to do so we pair them with a kid who isn't quite grasping the workout to help them. I walk around and supervise or help somebody one on one. Reading the article on the Sparkplugs I was able to determine that I was a person who had a lot of Energy. I'm very hands on with the kids and cheer them on while they exercise. Also, I'm very energetic with all the kids while I'm at River's Way. During class this semester we did an activity where you had a partner and one person was blindfolded and the other wasn't. For me, I was not blindfolded. I had to lead my partner throughout the building and outside. The exercise for taught me responsibility. I was responsible for somebody else; they counted on me to lead them in the right direction. I was able to channel that experience while I was at River's Way. The kids depended on me and looked up to me. I had to be able to set the example and lead them in the right path so they could be successful.
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Mission Statement: Providing team centered activities and adventures for people of all abilities with an emphasis on special needs population.
What they do:River's Way is an organization that was founded in 1993. It helps children with disabilities as well as veterans too. I work with the program called Alive and Well that takes place at the Bristol YMCA. They program helps the kids work in small groups and learn communicative skills. This will help them as they go into the real world and work force. By the kids learning skills to help them in the workforce gives them a chance at having as much as a normal life as they can. This is a video of Brandi performing a Race which is a part of her work out that I made.
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Brandi
Throughout my experience there was one girl named Brandi who really stuck out to me. She is 21 years old and has cutest smile ever. She is always smiling. I really connected with her. When we first met she was very quiet and reserved but she was always willing to work. I made sure that I was there to support her and encourage her and make her feel like she was doing well. While she was on the bike, I would ask her questions about how her life was and her favorite things to do. Soon, she started to really warm up to me. To the point when she would walk in she find me and come hug me. That really was a turning point for me because I realized that I was making a difference in her life. That she looked up to me and needed me for support. For me, I learned its just the little things that make a huge difference. I just treated Brandi like a regular person. I talked to her like she was my friend and she really opened up to me. |
Was I Successful?: During my time at River's Way, I was given the opportunity to implement some things of my own. I came up with four new yoga poses and created a Bike workout. In class we read a reading on how to measure success. I was able to really see if my new ways were successful. I indicated that I wanted the bike workout to be 30 minutes long and focus less on calories because the workout before was get to a certain calorie and stop. A problem that I saw could arise is that the person doing the workout would slack off and not actual burn a lot of calories even though they went the full 30 minutes. If the workout was done right then they should burn more calories than they usually do. For example, brandi only had to burn 50 calories but when she started the workout she would burn up to 80 calories. I knew that I was successful because I was able to look at the old program and the new program and compare the difference and also look at what I wanted to achieve.
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