Heard of 'Sports or Sideline Rage'? It exists! We believe the main problem is the lack of respect (& character education) that many people have for each other & authority in our society, negatively effecting sports and often times making it unfair, unenjoyable, and creates 'Sports & Sideline Rage' violence, making sporting events unsafe. Lack of respect creates unhealthy relationships and detracts from the healthy benefits we could get from sports participation. Addressing this issue is important to our health and wellness, because Sportsmanship is a global phenomenon that affects our holistic mental, emotional, and physical health. In our Healthy Schools Challenge we educated and encouraged athletes, coaches, officials, parents, and fans to value and demonstrate sportsmanship and promoted the importance of good character, physical activity, and healthy habits like getting out of the house to Do Something Healthy. Sportsmanship is Fair Play and Respect. As leaders we planned and conducted a free annual Sportsmanship CHAMP (Creating good character, Healthy relationships, Addressing social issues, Making meaningful, Positive changes) Camp for younger students who otherwise would not be able to afford camp. Our Mayor and NKU's basketball teams support us each year. The camp agenda includes Teambuilding, Teaching Sportsmanship & sports fundamentals, healthy recreational choices, character building and Teen Summit panel discussion. We help student athletes, coaches, officials, parents, and fans learn how to demonstrate sportsmanship, and keep games fun and safe while supporting their favorite teams. In addition to helping youth participants and parents, one way we were able to reach hundreds of local fans, coaches and officials was that my school basketball coach allowed us to share sportsmanship and healthy tips over the PA system during half time of games at our school's 4-day invitational basketball tournament! We also work with local media to recognize students, athletes, for accomplishments and for demonstrating good sportsmanship during the school year. Long term effects will be the fostering of good character, promote sportsmanship among athletes/coaches/officials/parents/fans, eliminate social barriers among students of diverse backgrounds, collaboration among students in different schools and local government officials to provide service to our communities, opportunities to set a positive example for others, and the teach healthy habits and responsible decision making. We obtained support from our city government and our Mayor joined our and President Obama's efforts by creating a 'Do Something Healthy: Child Health Day' Proclamation which was read to our student leaders, coaches, student participants, and parents. When it comes to helping others we think Big! We decided to help our school and community! We wanted to begin our Healthy Schools Challenge by hosting a Holistic Health Festival to promote awareness about the importance of holistic health, nutrition, and healthy eating habits, the day before our CHAMP Camp, but The Child Wellness Fair organization that we met with and who agreed to assist us wants to help us make it 'Big', so they will help us have our Holistic Health Festival in June 2011 so it will be big enough to benefit children, families, and seniors (everyone) in the Northern Kentucky Greater Cincinnati area!
Getting student leaders excited about helping was fairly easy, because providing service and helping others helps us have purpose in life, helps us develop our leadership skills, and helps us feel more invested in our school and community! We set a good example for other and can use our recognition awards and service time on our resume and the opportunity to earn a scholarship is a necessity and excellent motivator! Our project promotes sportsmanship, helps eliminate social barriers among students of diverse backgrounds, and provides leadership opportunities, student recognition, and service to our school & community. Student participants and their parents are excited about being involved in our CHAMP Camp, because we've conducted it every year since 2007 and it has a good reputation for being a 'free' fun way to learn healthy habits!
Myself along with other student leaders, school, and community support were excited about our involvement, because our Healthy Schools Challenge service project addressed the following significant issues and met the following Holistic Health needs of our school and community (which let us all know we are making a difference):
• Diversity & Inclusion: Positive interaction and community relations between individuals of diverse backgrounds and abilities (including individuals with disabilities) in Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati.
• Positive Youth Engagement: Positive & constructive activities to engage and occupy the time of students in our community during school holiday breaks and after school hours.
• Education: Service learning through character building projects for students in our school and community. Teach Good Character, Sportsmanship, and Healthy Habits to decrease violence during sporting events.
Our service project also addressed social boundaries among students by bringing Northern Kentucky students in different cities and from a variety of cultures together (who live within minutes of one another, but otherwise don’t normally get together because of cultural differences) to promote a healthy cause! Our Healthy Schools CHAMP Camp project may have been 'free', but the benefit of what was learned by all involved is Priceless! Thank you for encouraging and motivating us to help make our school and community more Healthy!
