A Day in the Life: Coventry

Last October, I visited Coach Cuevas and her girls at Coventry Elementary School in Yorktown to see what a day of practice looks like for GoTR. Wow, these girls are like Energizer bunnies! Here's what we did:

Classroom
Snack time/socializing: The girls enjoy a delicious spread of fresh fruit, animal crackers, pretzels, graham crackers, peanut butter, and Goldfish. We wait on a few girls to arrive from other schools.











Coach introduces the topic of the day: Gossip. They discuss what gossip is and the girls are eager to share their own encounters with gossip at school and home. We try to figure out what constitutes gossip. For example: If your friend tells you that she likes a boy and she wants you to tell him, is that gossip?

Coach reminds the girls to try their best and encourage each other during practice. She reminds the girl what they're training for (the 5K in December) and suddenly excitement fills the air. Then we realize that the race is the same day as the Christmas Town Dash, a race through Busch Gardens. Slight bummer. One girl proudly shows me a scar on her leg from the last 5K she ran. She's still super excited about the next race...what a tough cookie!

Soccer Field
First activity of the day: relay race, telephone style. We divide into two teams and soon realize that this game isn't so easy. Somehow "if you need help making a choice, listen to a trusted voice" turns into "if you're lonely, listen to your dog."























After four laps or five laps, we gather at the bleachers to talk about why gossip, unlike the telephone game, isn't funny. We also talk about why people may enjoy gossiping, how to remove ourselves from the gossip chain, and how to turn negative situations into positive ones. I loved this example: if someone tells you that your friend is fat, tell her that she's awesome instead!












One volunteer demonstrated the lasting impact of gossip by squeezing toothpaste on her finger and trying to get it all back in the tube. Although she could fit most of it back in, there was a little bit remaining thgat refused to go back in. We see how toothpaste, like gossip, is very hard to take back.















The girls randomly start singing- loud. I discover it's a Hannah Montana song.

Second activity of the day: scavenger hunt. The girls break up into pairs and get a list of tasks and a Ziploc bag. Among their tasks: find something blue, find something prickly, scream across the field, skip laps, jump rope 10 times without messing up.















I thought that the girls would have difficulty with one particular task: find someone under 25, not affiliated with GoTR, to sign the back of your paper. They quickly proved me wrong when they (politely) interrupted a football game and got the signatures from a group of high school boys. Wow- I wish I was that gutsy!

We hear thunder... Coach gets us off the bleachers pronto! Rain starts to fall.

Gym
We finish the scavenger hunt inside. I soon discover that a lot of these girls love cheerleading. When they came to the task of doing a cheer for their coaches, the girls were strategizing and performing like pros.












They finished the day off with a quick game of Hotchamamma. I'm not 100% sure what this game entails, but the girls cover their eyes, say Hotchamammaa lot, and join a blob.











Yeah, I'm definitely going to need the girls to explain that one to me next time...