Friday
Jul102009
YDA Session One, Day Five
Friday, July 10, 2009 at 10:32AM | Jeremiah Dobruck
Students exercised their art muscle today before hopping in the pool on the wrap-up day of the first week of the YDA.
Through the morning, students split up into three groups and worked on art pieces where they made paint stamps and adorned their own notebooks, to name just a couple of projects.
But at 11 a.m. the kids knew exactly what was coming, and they jumped in with both feet.
On a hot day like today, anyone would be excited about a pool, but part of the reason the kids are so anxious to get to it is a good number of them don't have the chance very often.
Nick Temple is a Harbor Gateway resident who worked with ShareFest at this year's Workday. He often teaches swimming at camps for inner-city and underprivileged kids, and this year, he decided to do the same for the YDA kids.
"Not many of these kids get the opportunity to even jump in a pool," he said. For that reason, many of them aren't comfortable in the water, but Nick is there to make them feel at home with a few basic lessons.
Nick shows a student how to keep his legs straight when kicking.
Nick said by the end of the day, when he's playing "sharks and minnows" with the kids in the pool, it's an rewarding experience to see this kids experience something special.
The minnows trying to escape Nick
"It's the coolest feeling," he said.
Of course, there's also the kids that feel right at home in the water, or 10 feet above it.
Nick said he sees the same pattern with kids at a lot of camps like the YDA when they start getting comfortable and bonding with each other and counselors. "The first day they're there, they're crying because they're homesick. The last day they're there, they're crying because they don't want to leave."
There are plenty more awesome swimming pictures to check out, so take a look on our flickr account, here.
Through the morning, students split up into three groups and worked on art pieces where they made paint stamps and adorned their own notebooks, to name just a couple of projects.
But at 11 a.m. the kids knew exactly what was coming, and they jumped in with both feet.
On a hot day like today, anyone would be excited about a pool, but part of the reason the kids are so anxious to get to it is a good number of them don't have the chance very often.
Nick Temple is a Harbor Gateway resident who worked with ShareFest at this year's Workday. He often teaches swimming at camps for inner-city and underprivileged kids, and this year, he decided to do the same for the YDA kids.
"Not many of these kids get the opportunity to even jump in a pool," he said. For that reason, many of them aren't comfortable in the water, but Nick is there to make them feel at home with a few basic lessons.
Nick shows a student how to keep his legs straight when kicking.Nick said by the end of the day, when he's playing "sharks and minnows" with the kids in the pool, it's an rewarding experience to see this kids experience something special.
The minnows trying to escape Nick"It's the coolest feeling," he said.
Of course, there's also the kids that feel right at home in the water, or 10 feet above it.
Nick said he sees the same pattern with kids at a lot of camps like the YDA when they start getting comfortable and bonding with each other and counselors. "The first day they're there, they're crying because they're homesick. The last day they're there, they're crying because they don't want to leave."
There are plenty more awesome swimming pictures to check out, so take a look on our flickr account, here.
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