Lessons on growing up

SPARTA — On April 4, about 20 Sparta High School seniors spoke to the fifth graders at Alpine School about a new program called Find the Courage.

Led by physical education teacher Lynn D'Amelio Find the Courage focuses on reducing stress and maintaining a balance between positive and negative energy in order to fix bad habits at a young age. Using tips published in "Sharpen the Saw", the students presented fun visual representations of how synergy works.

For example, one enthusiastic fifth grader volunteered to represent a human scale. Sparta High School student Kezia Santos handed the fifth grader several bags of rice, each labeled with either a positive or negative aspect of balancing schoolwork with friends and with family. With labels like Lies and Fights with Friends in one hand, the grinning student stood up straight with an equal weight of Facing your problems and Cleaning Up in the other hand.

The younger students were excited to participate, their hands shooting into the air. Some students were even eager to share what they had learned.

One student told the class that the heart is a muscle, and did not actually look like the geometric one on the poster, evoking warm laughter from the class.

"I really like balloons!" exclaimed fifth grader Justyne De'Ascoli hugging a balloon after playing a class-wide game of Keep It Up to maintain several balloons in the air, symbolizing the struggle to keep up with the pressures of growing up.

Students' Aid Becky Young was pleased with the reaction from the kids. "It was very effective," she said. "You could see they were tuned into the program and the high school kids were very well prepared."

Senior Nicole Bais said she got a good vibe from the fifth graders and that she was grateful for such an opportunity. "I want to go into the teaching field eventually so this was a great experience!"

During their recess, some fifth graders were seen trying to recreate some of the activities and were even discussing the lessons. Find the Courage had made an impact. Those kids are now a step closer to "Conquering bad habits before they conquer them."