As they walk into the Rosell Fann Recreation Center for their second day with the Teen Club, Liz, Gary, and Katie of Talk About Your Future (TAYF) are excitedly greeted by some of the students. One girl is eager to share with them how much she loved the Craisins from the other day, as others are proud to show off their homework progress. As a number of the students are basketball fanatics, they are thrilled to meet the guest speaker of the day, Hildegard “H” Regan. H is a former basketball player for Northeastern University, where she received a full-ride scholarship and studied physical education. Additionally, H received an offer in 1980 to play for the U.S. Olympic basketball team. However, H isn’t here today to boast about her many accomplishments; she is going to share with the students some useful tips regarding physical exercise.
H begins by asking the children about their own physical activities; daily exercise in P.E. class is the most common response, in addition to playing basketball and ballet dancing. H adds that playing a sport or doing basic workouts doesn’t have to be the only source of exercise, but that general fitness activities–such as walking one’s dog–can also have a large impact. Additionally, she stresses the importance of being active for about one hour per day; this sounds a bit rigorous, so H proceeds to work on some fun exercises with the kids.
They start by doing calisthenics – exercise movements that don’t require equipment, such as jumping jacks and sit-ups. Some of the students are also rewarded free jump ropes for volunteering to perform calisthenics exercises in front of the group. This segues into a period in which several students are able to demonstrate their jump roping tricks and abilities, such as the “criss-cross” and “leprechaun.”
Some of the students tell H that though they are experiencing waves of heat from the exercise, they’re feeling very good. One boy even states that once he get’s started, he just can’t stop! This is one of the very messages H wants the students to bring home. Among the various benefits to physical activity (such as maintaining healthy bones, muscles, and joints and looking better), one of the greatest outcomes, H says, is feeling better overall. And at this time, across the most of the students’ flushed faces, there are high-spirited smiles.