Check your child’s classroom blogs for more Photos!
Many Thanks to: Jog-a-Thon Chair Bridget Celentino, MC Chris Celentino, DJ Martin Lopez, all the OTA Parent-Volunteers who checked off laps and passed out refreshments and cheered… and thank you to all 255 OTA students for running with such enthusiasm and grit and endurance!
Parker Olenick and OTA Foundation members Kevin & Samantha Olenick are in Poland working with renowned doctor Svetlana Masgutova. Parker’s progress over the last two years is nothing short of astounding. He is playing football now and his enthusiasm for sports and his determination to succeed despite setbacks are the embodiment of ZEST and GRIT, the first two virtues in the new 7 Character Strengths program at OTA.
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OTA Outdoor Ed • Team Sports: Individual Skills, Team Skills, Game Skills…
Yesterday Coach Rich put on an amazing Baseball clinic for the 8th Graders. Many students who had never thrown a ball, caught a ball (with a glove), or hit a ball made huge one-day improvements. Others who already know the game got an intensive Smart Practice session with master coach Rich Curry.
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Yesterday Coach Leigha ran her 3-Station Soccer clinic for the 6th Grade Outdoor Ed. Station 1 & 2: Small field Games with different Rules designed to teach different aspects of the game (e.g., 1 touch, 3 passes before you shoot, Keep-away, etc); Station 3: Small group or one-on-one coaching (“Private Lessons”) from Coach, or wall ball.
Students moved through the stations working on individual skills and team skills… all to get ready for game skills. Experienced players help coach the others. We’re seeing great progress by our beginning soccer players.
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As Athletic Director, Mr. Curry will be responsible for three major elements of OTA’s Outdoor Education Program: Team Sports, for Skills & Character Education; Conditioning; and Health & Nutrition.
Coach Rich, a former semi-pro player in the Sonora Mexico, has over 17 years of coaching experience and has been working with OTA students in the Afterschool Basketball program and teaching PE to 5th-8th graders as a volunteer over the last year. During this time we saw that Rich is not only a master coach but a great leader who knows how to use team sports to help kids develop skills, talent, and character. OTA will be adapting a Character Report Card system in 2013-2014 (see below: ** 7 Key Character Strengths and 6 Keys to Developing Character) and Rich will be using Team Sports to teach character ed and help support that school-wide effort.
Rich and his wife April Curry (who served as OTA’s K-4 PE Coach and Recess Director this year and who will be returning to OTA after her maternity leave) founded Athletic Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to using team sports to prevent bullying and introduce young players to role models.
