2nd Week at CHAMP!

            Today was my second experience at the CHAMP program at the J. M. McDonald Sports Complex. When I first got there not all the kids were there yet because the half the kids come from Homer and half from Cortland schools so the timing is a little different. One of the kids that was in my mentor group was already there so I got a chance to be one on one with him. This was a nice little opportunity to try and talk with him before the other kids showed up. After a few minutes of chatting and working on a worksheet the bus showed up with many energetic kids! That’s when I got to meet the other member of my mentor group. She was a little girl with plenty of energy to spare!  Once everyone got in their groups and had all their folders ready, Janis lined everyone one up one by one to get ready for time on the turf. Janis is a great leader for this program and she works so well with all the kids hopefully I can learn a tip or two along the way. When everyone was in line there was a few little problems here and there she Janis knew exactly what to say or do for each kid that wasn’t following directions. Once we finally got to turf all the kids knew exactly were to go and then Sara, another program leader, explained the activity for the day. The activity involved many different stations that worked on jumping, throwing, dribbling a soccer ball, and tossing. The kids were all split into the stations and then the mentors spilt and worked with different groups. These activities seemed to go pretty well. When I was with a group I tried to encourage then to stay on track and even challenged the ones who seemed to really grasp the task. Many of the kids were great with the activities but as expected there were a few small miss haps. Then after everyone got to each station we got into traveling groups, which then made a pit stop to the bathrooms to wash hands then got back to the room for a healthy snack. While they eat their healthy snack they get out their homework or do educational worksheets. Then from there this is about the time when the kids get started to get picked up.

            Through this program at CHAMP the program leaders have so many great things started there to promote healthy lifestyles. Even though most the kids that go to CHAMP are young the program leaders still make sure they are getting involved in making good choices for activity, snacks, and homework. I can’t wait to see what is more to come. Overall it was a successful 2^nd day at CHAMP.