It may only meet for a brief period once a week, but a Pickerington elementary school yoga club has made a noticeable difference in the students who participate.
Yoga started as a hobby for Violet Elementary School physical education teacher Hope VanGundy, but quickly transformed into a constructive activity for some of her third- and fourth-grade students. She is a certified yoga instructor, and saw the possibility that it might be useful for her students, too.
“I personally have witnessed the positive benefits that yoga offers the mind, body, and spirit,” says VanGundy. “I knew yoga would be extremely valuable to today's students.”
Photos courtesy of Hope VanGundy
The club meets once a week during the students’ recess time. Students commit to regular attendance via a permission form.
VanGundy also teaches at Tussing Elementary School, so if she’s not able to come in, art teacher Emily Steele takes over. The students do more creative projects and team-building activities during the art portion of the club.
“I feel that the students have gained better social skills and confidence while being a part of this yoga/art club,” Steele says. “I have seen students work better in a small group setting because of their experiences with smaller groups in yoga/art (club).”
One of Steele’s favorite parts of the program, she says, is that the art portion of the club “allows for the students to use their imagination more and develop a lasting love for learning.”
VanGundy is amazed with some of the insight that the members of her club have about the world around them, she says.
Marissa Groves, a fourth grade teacher at Violet, shared this quote by Quaker missionary Stephen Grellet with her students: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Groves asked her students to respond to the quote and one student, a member of the yoga club, gave an insightful response: “I think this means that I should be kind and loving to others. I should do what is right not wrong. For I have only one life in this world and I want to live it.”
VanGundy says she has been approached by multiple parents about how the students love being a part of the program, and she hopes that students will continue to want to be a part of it in the future.
Zoe Zeid is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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