Project D.R.E.A.M.

A big part of this semesters work will be my role in Project D.R.E.A.M. where DREAM stands for Diverse Recreational and Educational Activities Mentor-ship Program. My classmates of Adapted Physical Activity and Individual Differences and I will be mentoring a student from the local community ages 13-21. We will be helping our mentee's achieve a physical activity DREAM of theirs by working with the student at least 2 hours a week for a total of 20 hours. I will be using the "PE Giving Tree" blog to document this awesome journey. This journey began with an inventory report in which I spent an hour at my students house, getting to know the student.

To maintain confidentiality, I will refer to my student as "Junior." If you just took a look at my inventory report above by following the link, you would realize Junior is 15 years old, has ADHD and is on the Autism spectrum but is very high functioning. Junior was unable to decide on a DREAM goal but I have some ideas from talking with him and his family during the inventory report. Bowling is something he can do with his family and he enjoys racquetball. Since Junior is very small for his age and doesn't have much muscle mass, I really want to get him moving and supporting his body weight in various ways to increase strength. I'm leaning towards one day a week of bowling and one day a week in the racquetball courts playing games while working on muscular strength and fitness activities Junior could perform on his own. This week I will be taking Junior to the bowling alley to assess his bowling skills and to have an enjoyable evening so I can get to know him better, figure out a DREAM and explain how we are going to achieve that dream!

Junior is an extremely lovable person. He is extremely friendly and wants to know everybody's name and he will remember them too. I can tell he just wants to get out and have a fun time. I am going to show him how various forms of physical activity are really good times especially when he plays with friends. I am so excited to be his mentor and keep a look out for bi-weekly updates of our journey!
(A few of the Project Dream Mentors at Opening Night)