With the Thanksgiving Holiday behind us, the staff at the Delaware YMCA began to focus on preparations for the facility's one year anniversary!  December 17 will mark one year of serving the Delaware community and the Y plans on marking the occasion with a celebration Saturday, December 15th! It's great to see how far the facility has come in one year and what a  important part of the community it has become.

Erin and I spent time Wednesday shopping for decorations and finalizing plans with sponsors.  It was fun to get out of the building and spend time one-on-one with Erin. I took the time to pick her brain with some questions and also discussed some ideas I had to run a "couch to 5k" plan after the first of the year.

I spent time decorating the main lobby with Erin and enjoyed taking time to greet the individuals and families that came to spend time at the Y. It's great to see so many families that come to the Y to spend time together and time leading active, healthy lifestyles. I have always felt that health & wellness is where I would like to see my career path lead to. I enjoy interacting with the children in my gymnastics classes and meeting their parents.  It's very encouraging to see so many families make health & wellness a priority in their lives.

Not too much going on this week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. I thought I would utilize this blog to talk about the gymnastics/tumbling classes that I have been assisting with each week. The programs that the Delaware Community Center YMCA offers are introductory gymnastics/tumbling classes for children ages 3-12.  Because the movements are fairly basic, I feel pretty confident assisting the children and helping them improve.
Like any new programming for a community, interest level is gauged on participation in the program and feedback from the parents. This paticular class is offered on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, with three classes based on age level (not skill). The first class is for pre-school age children with parent participation and the next two classes are based on age without parent involvement.
I have enjoyed working with the children and have found a new appreciation for these instructors. It has been challenging to find ways to course-correct the children when they misbehave and give feedback and instruction in a way they can understand.  This is a much different experience than working with adults at my regular job (although adults can be just as challenging at times).  I think the new skills I am learning will be valuable as I enter a sports management position.  I have interest in entering the fitness or recreation services sector, and this is giving me a better understanding from the perspective of the parents, children, and instructors.
The most challenging part so far has been that the primary instructor has had some attendance issues due to an illness. This illness has affected her work performance and participation in the class. My mentor, Erin, has asked for my feedback on several occasions on the instructors performance. It is sometimes uncomfortable when I have to step-up and take charge of her class when she is underperforming. However, it is beneficial when my previous management experience allows me the confidence to step-up when it is necessary.

This is one of the basic movements that we teach the children in the Tumbleweeds classes.

This week there was not much going on in the Sports Department, so I elected to help Roger Hanafin (Youth, Teen and Family Programming Director) with some prepartations for the Teen Leaders Club Fundraiser. The first fundraiser is going to be a Rock Wall Climbing Competition that will be held at the end of January. The teens will be helping get sponsorships, plan the event, and volunteer to work at the event. I spent the afternoon making some marketing materials to promote the competition and preparing the registration form that will be used to sign up.

It is very exciting to see new events being promoted at the Y!  Nearly one year ago there were very few activities to choose from, especially for children and families, as the membership base was not there yet and the facility had not had time to develop programming for families yet. I was one of the Delaware YMCA's initial members and I remember being very frustrated at the low level of programming it had to offer at the time.  I now understand the time it takes the staff to develop the programs that work well within a community and the time and resources it takes to plan and staff the programs and events.

I am including a copy of the Rock Wall Competition Registration form that I helped prepare.

This week I had the opportunity to work with one of the other Directors at the Delaware YMCA, Roger Hanafin is the Youth, Teen, & Family Program Director. I got to spend some time learning about his responsibilities and specifically, the YMCA's Teen Leaders Club. The Teen Leaders Club is is a National Club that gives teens, ages 11-17,  an opportunity to gain  real-life, hands-on leadership experience through volunteer opportunities and  trainings at the Y, planning and  executing events (to benefit the Leaders Club), weekend leadership retreats, and weekly Teen Leader Club meetings.
I was asked to lead the first Parents' Meeting to kick off the club. Roger had a previous engagement, so he asked me to step in and lead the meeting on Thursday in his absence.  Leading the meeting was very last minute, but I felt pretty confident with the information after spending time learning its background earlier in the week with Roger. He had prepped for the meeting very well, so all I had to do was make sure it was a success!  At the same time the teens would be in the adjacent room getting aquainted and playing some games.  I felt a personal connection to this paticular project's success, as my own son was participating in the program that evening.
All in  all, the meeting went off without too much trouble (some minor computer problems when showing the video Roger had prepared).  I did get a little nervous when one of the other Directors checked in to be sure the meeting was going well. He didn't offer any feedback, but stayed to share a few things with the group of parents.