Success Story

Movement in Motion - Bay St. George YMCA

This free program is for youth ages 14-18 who have been diagnosed with a developmental disability. Students from Stephenville High School are transported to the Bay St. George YMCA every Wednesday morning to take part in a 1 hour motivating fitness session. Using music as a motivation for movement, these sessions include stimulus in fine motor, gross motor, hand-eye coordination, sensory skills, leadership, and provide social interaction with the community and members of the Bay St. George YMCA.

With this program we hope to build awareness of the value of movement in daily life and encourage self-responsibility and creativity while doing so. The new equipment we purchased helped remove the barrier for participants who had mobility issues, limited range of motion, balance, stability or coordination issues. 

"As our programming developed weekly, we would leave fitness with the stability ball for the last part of the day. It was a great way to incorporate balance, agility and increase confidence. One student in particular was very nervous using the ball. In January when we started, she did not want to be engaged at all. It took a few months but near the middle of May she suddenly sat on the ball and followed  instructions. She continued to join us every week after and even enjoyed the stretching at the end."