YMCA News Archive

YMCA CEO Glen Gunderson’s Perspective on Nourishing Our Youth to be Successful in School and Play

Yadmin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 21:19:40 +0000

YMCA CEO Glen Gunderson’s Perspective on Nourishing Our Youth to be Successful in School and Play Yadmin Mon, 09/28/2015 - 16:19

In high school, I ate a big breakfast, a big lunch, then I’d crash in the afternoon. I remember being lethargic, less alert and even prone to nod off.

I wouldn’t have sustained mental focus so to prop it back up, I would look for sugar, usually a soda.

I didn’t know as much about nutrition WAY back then. I came to figure out that, for my metabolism and brain function, I had to eat often, just like my father.

If I don’t eat every two or three hours, I can get ornery, unfocused, and I’m not as effective as a parent or co-worker.

Thankfully, that problem was something my parents and I were able to recognize and rectify.

But how many kids have a similar challenge but don’t have the support network or means to account for their physiology? Or worse, don’t have access to food at all.

It’s clearly a problem: On an average school day in 2013-14, 136,113 low-income children in Minnesota participated in school breakfast, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

This is an economic issue, a social issue and a health issue. And we struggle with it, trying to get the right amount of food in our kids at the right time.

When you’re hungry, you’re triggering the body to slow down. Then when the metabolism slows down, calories are more likely to be stored as fat, and energy level and mental acuity decreases. Anxiety or stress increase, and fatigue sets in.

All these barriers for the simple fact that a child can’t get enough nutritional food.

Maybe there are also other stresses in life, so a child shows up with this pretty remarkable deficiency. It’s not that the child doesn’t have the capacity to perform well, or the potential to excel. But based on these negative factors, they simply can’t be as effective as a child who had a nice, balanced breakfast. Not to mention, as is the case with me personally, a healthy snack to split the difference between breakfast and lunch.

I think about this a lot: My wife and I have active debates about going beyond processed snacks. How do we ensure our children get fruits and vegetables and a more consistent flow of quality calories, so they can avoid the afternoon lull like I did?

The way our system is set up, it’s easy (and cheap) for parents to slip a processed snack that will sustain itself in the backpack. But those snacks generally represent empty calories.

There’s a recent documentary titled Fed Up as well as research studies that discuss, demonstrate and debate that our kids’ propensity to become obese is largely due to excess sugar.

What’s the cheapest food? Fast food, preserved food, food high in sugar content. And if kids aren’t eating for hours or days at a time, they’re craving something with a very fast, energy impact. Trouble is, that snack provokes a near term crash and plenty of cravings for more of the same.

Thanks to Cargill and chef Marshall O’Brien, the YMCA is trying to tackle this problem by providing young people with a well-balanced meal every day at the Harold Mezile North Community YMCA in Minneapolis.

But the program provides more than a square meal. We’re teaching kids a life lesson around food that’s not only going to impact them in the short term but promote a virtuous cycle. The students at the North Community YMCA are getting a sense for the value of snacking, eating right and the right number of times. That gives them a hope and prayer of doing the right things for their own kids and putting the onus on that as a lifelong value.

YMCA Feeds Kids’ Minds and Bodies in Before and After School Programs

Yadmin — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 21:47:34 +0000

YMCA Feeds Kids’ Minds and Bodies in Before and After School Programs Yadmin Tue, 09/15/2015 - 16:47

Studies show benefits of participation in before and after school and summer programs.

The YMCA of the North (YGTC), a leading nonprofit dedicated to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, feeds kids’ minds and bodies to help them have the opportunity to be healthy – physically and mentally.

Studies show participation in before and after school as well as summer programs where kids and teens receive healthy meals and experience music and fine art programs helps boost school attendance, behavior and academic performance and reduces gaps in academic achievement among children from underserved communities.

“Healthy meals and enrichment activities are proven to help young people thrive, but those in underserved communities might not always have access or opportunities to participate,” said Matt Kjorstad, executive director at the YGTC. “Together with schools, community partners and families, the Y is dedicated to closing the opportunity gap by feeding kids’ bodies and minds to help them become tomorrow’s community of healthy, responsible adults.”

The before and after school and summer programs focus on providing youth in low-income communities with academic, social and lifework development to build confidence, academic skills and healthy habits.

Food is Fuel

Without access to foods that nourish the body and mind, studies show that kids and teens may struggle academically, socially or emotionally. With a grant from Cargill, the YMCA has partnered with Chef Marshall O’Brien to tackle this problem.

Every day at the Harold Mezile North Community YMCA, young people receive well-balanced meals that fuel them for success. The goal of the program is not only to address food insecurity for underserved youth, it is to educate them about how to make healthy choices. At the Y, kids get involved in the process by learning about planting and harvesting, understanding the benefits of making the right food choices and identifying their favorite fruits and vegetables each month. As a result, they are prepared to live happier, healthier lives.

Music for the Mind

Fine arts and music in particular are programs that many schools have had to scale back or even eliminate from their curriculum. The Y collaborates with organizations to provide opportunities where youth can experience and enjoy making and listening to music.

One successful program is Beats & Rhymes where kids get the chance to experience making and recording music that reflects their lives. Students have to complete their homework in order to participate in the after school program. The program is designed to provide challenging, positive youth and career development opportunities for vulnerable youth.

The youth participating in the Beats & Rhymes program have seen success academically by improving their writing and technical skills. They have also experienced success in the business world by creating popular videos like Hot Cheetos and Takis and learning how to promote music that reaches different audiences. They gained invaluable life lessons about leadership and cultural tolerance.

Discover how Michaela increased her confidence and now is helping others grow and learn – Michaela’s Story.

See how Dennis got out of his comfort zone and has turned into a leader – Dennis’ Story.

Learn more about the Y’s educational and enrichment programs.

YMCA CEO Glen Gunderson’s Perspective on Ensuring All Youth Have Educational and Enrichment Opportunities

Yadmin — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:38:46 +0000

YMCA CEO Glen Gunderson’s Perspective on Ensuring All Youth Have Educational and Enrichment Opportunities Yadmin Thu, 09/10/2015 - 11:38

For our youth, every school year brings renewal, a fresh start, a new opportunity.

But when our children don’t activate their brains all summer long, they often squander that fresh start.

In Minnesota, 219,277 students in kindergarten through 12^thgrade are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. During the summer, without the structure of school, those students are most at risk to suffer learning loss and regress – rather than grow – academically. After two summers, you’re talking about a one-year loss.

Add it up over multiple summers and eventually, the aggregate gap becomes insurmountable.

I remember a middle and high school classmate who was a good student- athlete. But his parents divorced, and they looked at teachers as enemies rather than partners. He didn’t have any desire to achieve academically, and he wasn’t going on any trips to museums or camps during the summer.

He went from an honor roll student to barely graduating high school.

When kids fall behind, the results can often lead to them not showing up, screwing up, giving up, or worst of all, dropping out.

What potential is squandered, when a child falls behind summer after summer then drops out?

My wife and I make sure our children participate in some sort of enrichment class every summer. My daughter did one this year called, “Not Quite Brain Surgery.” The whole premise of the class was to allow students to immerse themselves in how the brain works. She and a good friend took the class together.

It was incredible!

My daughter dissected a sheep brain and put together a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation on how the human brain works, including terminology that was even a stretch for me. So cool.

It takes a village, a community, and intentional, caring guardians who are going to focus on this critical period to ensure their student doesn’t fall back instead of move forward. Summer does not have to be void of academic growth or academic enrichment.

It can actually serve to turbo-charge that growth.

The YMCA of the North is proud to have completed its second year collaborating with the YMCA of the USA, St. Paul Public Schools and Maxfield Elementary School. During the summer, the Bell Power Scholars Academy offers a full-day schedule that focuses on math and literacy in the morning and fun, hands-on activities and experiences in the afternoon, including field trips and service projects.

I was delighted to see Maxfield Elementary principal Nancy Stachel say some students who participated in the Power Scholars summer program had three- or four-month gains when they returned for the school year.

That’s fantastic, and I want to clone the program and spread it more broadly.

But there are fundamental challenges to make programs like Power Scholars available to every child who needs it, limitations around staffing, around locations and, of course, funding.

Projections suggest that we’ll struggle to get enough skilled workers into the workforce for necessary jobs over the next couple of decades. So we need to figure out ways to expand access.

There are effective camps of all types, run by organizations, churches and nonprofits, to influence summer learning gains. Those gains don’t just happen in a traditional classroom setting.

But parents and guardians must be engaged, figuring out ways to make summer homework fun and providing rewards for completing workbooks or writing essays or reading books.

I was so encouraged to see the stories of Bronell and Victoria, two students at Maxfield Elementary. They represent exactly what the heart of the program is all about.

Their confidence will only grow. Then imagine the impact they can have on their own classmates, their own aspirations and eventually, their own children… Indeed, a positive and virtuous cycle.

We need to put these opportunities in front of kids, and then we’ll all be amazed by what they can achieve.