By Alexa Manley, Clinician
This school year Path Clinicians at the Carteret Elementary Schools started a new after school program, titled Stay & Play with the Path. This program is run at all 3 schools and offers a different movement-based activity every month. Each event is open to 25-30 students. The idea behind creating this program was to encourage physical activity in a fun and engaging way for students, as well as foster positive peer relationships. Being active is not only an important part of physical health, but is also closely connected to mental health. This program furthers the overarching goal of the Path Program, which is to address students’ social, emotional, and health needs and to provide opportunities for healthy youth development. Another reason for the creation of this program was to introduce students to different kinds of physical activities and sports that they might not get exposure to otherwise. A hope is that students will find new interests and hobbies through this program.
Stay & Play with the Path began in January of 2024 with yoga. Yoga instructor Miss Mindy led students in a winter-themed yoga session, where students pretended to be hibernating bears waking up from their sleep. Miss Mindy seamlessly incorporated different yoga poses and stretches in a kid friendly way. She even brought some (pretend) snowballs for students to play with! Students left expressing their excitement for the next after school event. During the month of February we are having members of the Carteret High School Step team come teach students about step dance. An additional part of the program is the partnership with the PALS/SADD club at Carteret High School. High school students are able to volunteer for each of these after school events at the elementary schools, and in turn receive volunteer hours. Through volunteering, CHS students are able to gain skills such as responsibility, leadership, and empathy, as well as build impactful relationships with the youth in their community. The elementary students also enjoy being able to interact with the older students and have positive role models to look up to. On top of these benefits, having the extra help of the high schoolers makes the events run even more smoothly. This program is expected to run until the end of the school year, each month offering a new and exciting activity for students. Path clinicians look forward to continuing to grow the Stay & Play with the Path after school program.