Yesterday, Jennifer and I, had the opportunity to volunteer at Jennifer’s daughter’s Armory Day down at the Park Slope Armory YMCA. The students get the wonderful opportunity to run around and play games in this spacious(and beautiful) building/gym about 4 times a year. This is extra special, as funding for their public school gym teacher has been dwindling over the years and she is down to having classes only 2 days a week now. Ultimately it’s the kids who suffer. The armory therefore serves as a much needed compliment to the students’ usual gym schedule.
As a result of budget cuts, you won’t find any gym teacher at the Armory, meaning the school is left to rely on parent volunteers and a wonderful organization called Kids In The Game to help with the coordination of the different games of soccer, relay races, broomball, and gaga ball(yea I didn’t know what that was either, but happened to be the game Jennifer and I were in charge of. Sort of like dodgeball with one big kick ball you hit with your hands to get another kid out. Didn’t even dominate the game either as those 4th graders are agile little boogers).
Most interesting though, was learning about the non-profit Kids In The Game, whose mission is “We inspire kids to thrive in life through sports by providing resources that get and keep kids in the game.” They are here to make sure kids have the opportunity to continue playing sports and games, regardless of the walks of life they come from. In a time when resources in NYC public schools are limited, these third parties are stepping up to assure no child is left without. As a result, the kids grow up with the same opportunities we did. It’s reassuring to know that there are companies/organizations out there that do care for the welfare of the child and not just concerned about the students’ testing scores and rankings.
The same goes for our good friend Adarsh Alphons’ non-profit ProjectArt whose aim is to close the gap in access to the arts education for youth, in a highly innovative, collaborative, and cost-effective way. They provide a creative outlet to an education system whose emphasis is on STEM(Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) by providing free art classes.
Creativity is such a major component to not only the child’s development, but also the innovation of the future. Just as physical education is extremely important to the well-being of a generation; not only mentally, as kids learn how to work together and are happier as any exercise releases dopamine in the brain(pleasure and reward), but also to a person’s physical health as exercise is good for the body(duh). I mean, this is the future that is supposed to take care of us when we get old, bony, and sick right? We don’t want it to be the other way around because their health is suffering due to lack of exercise and mental stimulation(obesity and dementia). Although according to an article posted on a “reliable” news source today, cynicism is linked to greater dementia risk. Better watch myself here :)
You know, it doesn’t take much to help change the world. These third parties are coming in and filling the gaps where needed. More organizations are popping up every day to help out. Think about if there are any issues in your community that could use some tending to. Volunteering your time will not only assist those in need, but you personally will feel better about yourself because you contributed to helping change the world for a healthier tomorrow. If you don’t know where to start, start small.
~Tashiro~
