Healthy
Kids Impacts Del Rio Student’s Lives
"This is the best thing I’ve ever done
in my life," claims third-grader Lauren Casteel
after a recent Healthy Kids Club session. Lauren is
one of 40 children at Del Rio Elementary School in
Oceanside, CA who have benefited from this special
after-school program. All 700 children at Del Rio
have been impacted from JSF’s school-wide effort
to increase physical activity and improve nutrition.
The Healthy Kids Club is targeted primarily toward
youngsters like Lauren who previously haven’t
participated much in sports. The Club aims to help
these children develop a love for physical activity.
Since the program began last September, the boys and
girls have been introduced to a variety of activities
including tennis, soccer, basketball, yoga, and lots
of games and exercises. The coaches have all been
trained in JSF’s "every child is a winner"
philosophy, which emphasizes encouragement, nonjudgmental
feedback, and progressive learning. Fifth grader Ashley
Pena echoed the feelings of many Health Clubbers when
she said that the coaches "gave me confidence."
The children also receive regular mini-modules on
healthy eating.
The Club is part of JSF’s Healthy Kids 2005
initiative, an effort launched in August 2002 through
a grant from The California Endowment. JSF has provided
16 weeks of physical education classes for preschool-5th
grade children at Del Rio. We have also provided several
hours of training for the faculty and provided them
with nutrition education modules. With strong support
from Principal Phyllis Morgan, our goal is to reduce
obesity and build health at the school.
The PE classes feature JSF’s Tennis Plus, Star
Soccer, and Star Power programs, all designed to help
children build life skills such as cooperation and
concentration, along with increasing their health
and fitness. The Del Rio faculty has been very appreciative
of the PE classes JSF has provided. A second-grade
teacher recently said that the JSF coaches’
"positive and relaxed attitude made all the children
feel comfortable participating." A first grade
teacher mentioned that an "increase in self-confidence
among my students is evident."
In our trainings for teachers, we emphasized the
link between physical activity and academic performance.
We trained the teachers in Brain Gym®, a system
of exercises designed for brain integration. Noting
the powerful role physical activity plays in activating
the brain for learning, reducing stress, and developing
focus, we encouraged the Del Rio teachers to take
frequent physical activity breaks during all classroom
activities.
Healthy Kids 2005 has attracted much favorable attention
in the community. San Diego County Supervisor Ron
Roberts recently commended JSF for "helping children
to avoid obesity and get on track for a healthy life."
Over the past several months, we have been invited
to participate in anti-obesity projects by respected
local organizations such as San Diego State University,
San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency,
Neighborhood Healthcare, and Vista Community Clinic.
We have emerged a leader in the fight against the
childhood obesity epidemic. Our next step is to take
the successful model we have developed here in San
Diego to Washington, DC and the Bay Area.
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Edgewood '03 Summer
Camp In DC is JSF’s Largest
Over 90 children were actively involved in JSF’s
largest multi-sport summer camp ever. The Community
Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) Edgewood
Terrace property in NE DC partnered with the Joy of
Sports Foundation (JSF) for an intensive five-day-a-week
camp for six weeks this summer. With funding from
the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation,
the Edgewood Terrace camp was one of 89 summer programs
supported by the Trust to provide 6,000 DC children
with enriching summer activities.
According to Juno Pitchfork, the Edgewood Terrace
Camp Director, the intent of the camp was "to
establish a strong foundation for the kids, both a
strong body and a strong mind." He was pleased
with the success of the camp and the enthusiasm of
the campers. The sports activities JSF offered—
basketball, tennis, and soccer—proved to be
very popular with the children.
The camp was structured so that the children, ages
6-13, were divided into smaller age- appropriate groups
and rotated through various camp activities throughout
the day. Running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the camp offered
a number of indoor activities centered around Edgewood’s
state-of-the-art computer labs.
When it was time to get outdoors, the children were
excited to get moving. They were greeted by JSF’s
energized and enthused coaches. On Monday-Wednesday,
the children played basketball and soccer. On Thursdays
and Fridays, they played tennis and basketball. Life
skill learning was integrated into each sport program
and the qualitative results are positive.
JSF intern Patty Devlin supervised the camp on-site.
She saw many of the children demonstrate notable improvements
in confidence, concentration, and enthusiasm by the
end of the camp.
JSF piloted its new Basketball Plus curriculum for
the first time in the DC area. As many children declared
wanting "to be a NBA Basketball player"
as a career goal, the basketball proved very popular.
Kenneth, a 14 year-old camper, summed up the camp
with one word, "tight!" He enjoyed all of
the sports activities and acknowledged that, if not
for this camp, he would be at home with nothing to
do. JSF was glad to be there to help create an active,
positive summer experience.
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Everyone Can Win Through
Sports
By Andrew Oser, JSF Founder and President
Participation in sports can either build children
up or break them down. All too often, youth sports
becomes survival of the fittest. The children who
are the most gifted and the most aggressive win consistently
and become increasingly self-confident. The other
kids experience frequent failure and defeat. Many
of them become discouraged and give up sports. They
miss out on all the joy, fitness, and learning that
can come from sports. Often, they carry with them
a sense of self-doubt and lack of confidence into
other part of their lives. Some people suggest that
we should eliminate competition from youth sports
to spare kids from the pain of losing. I agree that
many young children aren't ready for competition.
Their sense of self is still being formed and is too
fragile to withstand the rigors of competition. But
once children reach the age of 8 or 9, with proper
coaching, they can reap great benefits from participation
in competitive sports. Youth sport coaches can make
a powerful difference in children's lives.
A coach who truly puts children's healthy development
above winning can effectively use the playing field
as a training ground for life. He or she can ensure
that all the youngsters, not just the ones with the
most talent for the sport, have a positive experience.
One of the biggest keys to this is to turn failure
and losing into learning opportunities. The nature
of the human experience is that all of us will experience
many setbacks in the course of our lives. Competitive
sports offer an ideal arena to learn how to grow stronger,
rather than be harmed by such experiences. Many children
(as well as adults) tend to feel bad about themselves
when they lose. When they lose repeatedly, they start
to feel like "losers." This, of course,
is exacerbated when coaches or parents berate them
for losing or other children ridicule them.
The number one priority of a great youth coach is
to help children believe in themselves. The coach
recognizes each child's essential goodness and unique
gifts. She treats them with consistent respect and
love. Her words, tone of voice, body language, and
actions congruently communicate the message, "I
believe in you. I care about you. I know that you
can do it." The coach speaks the language of
encouragement, telling children not to give up, to
keep going for it. The coach's goal is that the children
will develop a deep belief in themselves that will
not be shaken when they lose. Ideally, children will
learn to play the game with joy and passion, do their
best, and walk off the field feeling great regardless
of the score.
When a child has a habit of judging himself and feeling
bad when he loses, the coach can help him to break
that habit. First, the coach must model calm nonjudgmental
behavior in the face of defeat. Second, the coach
can give the child some tools to use to deal with
self-judgment and other negative feelings that may
come up in the moment of failure or defeat. One such
tool is to ask the question, "What am I feeling
now?" Just asking this question takes the child
from being totally caught up in his emotions to a
perspective of being aware of them. After the child
has asked the question, he can take a couple deep
breaths, while continuing to be aware of his feelings.
The idea is not to resist the feelings and try to
change them, but simply to let them be.
Next the child can ask the question, "What can
I do differently next time?" From the perspective
of calm awareness gained by the previous question
and the deep breathing, the child can look clearly
at how to improve his performance. He can also visualize
himself playing the way he wants to play next time.
Initially the coach can ask children these questions
and guide them through the process. The coach's goal
will be for the children to learn to do it for themselves.
At some point, the coach suggests that the same process
can be used in non-sports settings. When a child experiences
failure in school, in an interaction with peers, or
a family situation, he can use this simple process
to break the habit of getting caught up in self-judgment
or other negative emotions. He will begin to know
that no matter what happens in his life, he has the
strength and inner resources to deal with it. He will
believe in himself.
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ExxonMobil Community 2003
Summer Jobs Program Benefits JSF
For the third consecutive year, JSF has received
a grant from ExxonMobil to fund a college summer intern
at our Alexandria, Virginia location. For summer 2003,
JSF selected Patty Devlin, an incoming senior and
Leadership Studies major at the University of Richmond.
Patty’s interests in leadership, value-based
learning, and serving others, combined with her life-long
love of tennis (she received a full athletic scholarship
to school) and energetic personality make her a natural
mentor to the kids in JSF’s summer programs.
Before starting at JSF on July 2, Patty assisted
on a mission trip to Peru to help build beds and provide
basic health supplies for impoverished families. Her
first day with JSF began at Edgewood Terrace’s
summer camp, coordinating the rotation of children
into the JSF activities and making sure everyone was
happy. Patty comments that the children are "brightening"
each day as they open up through participating in
the JSF activities. Patty will also assist in the
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Meet Jonathan Wright, DC
Regional Director
JSF’s Executive Director, Shane Smith (SS),
interviews the newest member of the JSF Team, D.C.
Area Regional Director Jonathan Wright (JW).
SS: Jonathan, what were you doing prior to joining
the JSF team?
JW: I was working for the consulting firm, A.T. Kearney,
focusing on change management. After that, I took
a six month sabbatical in which I learned to sail,
traveled to Europe, mountain biked, and backpacked
with my dad.
SS: What inspired you to leave the world of consulting
to join JSF?
JW: I wanted to be involved in the "human"
side of business. In professional consulting, a work/life
balance is not easily achieved. I decided to follow
my passion and get into the nonprofit world. I looked
for nonprofits that worked with children, their development,
etc. The sports component of JSF was just "icing
on the cake!"
SS: How long have you been with JSF?
JW: My first day was May 12th , so I’m in week
four!
SS: What will your primary responsibilities be at
JSF?
JW: Managing our programs, coaches, and coordinating
our volunteers in the DC/MD/VA area.
SS: Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
JW: I grew up in a little town called Salisbury,
NC, near Charlotte, NC. For the last three years,
I’ve lived in NW DC.
SS: What life skill has helped you the most in your
life?
JW: Perseverance/Determination. Coming from a modest
background, opportunities were not going to be handed
to me. I needed to set goals and find a way to reach
them.
SS: What was the last live music performance that
you went to?
JW: A "House Concert," hosted by me! It
featured two up-and-coming artists (Eric Balkey and
Claire Holley).
SS: What were your favorite sports as a kid? How
about now?
JW: As a kid, baseball. Also, cross country running,
football, and basketball. Now, I play a lot of tennis,
basketball and I mountain bike.
SS: What are your hobbies?
JW: I’m involved in music management, backpacking,
and learning through independent studies.
SS: What’s been your most enjoyable experience
at JSF thus far?
JW: Spending time at the programs and seeing the
kids in action! Having fun at JSF’s final session
at Walt Whitman Middle School with D.C. United Star
(and JSF volunteer) Brian Namoff.
SS: Who are your favorite tennis and basketball players?
JW: In tennis, it’s Michael Chang–I love
his grit, determination and hustle! In basketball,
I like the "humble scrappers," so I’ll
go with John Stockton.
SS: Who is going to win Wimbledon this year?
JW: For the men, I’ll go with Agassi. Since
he’s grown up, he’s easier to root for!
For the women, I’m a big Jennifer Capriati fan.
Her comeback has been inspirational, but I also like
Justine Henin-Hardenne.
SS: Thanks, Jonathan, and welcome to the JSF team!
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The Joy of Gratitude
JSF acknowledges the many individuals and organizations
who have contributed to JSF since our winter newsletter.
We are most grateful for your support. THANK YOU!
Here, we acknowledge the following donors at these
levels:
$1,000-4,999
