Pilates at Amphi - A Public/Private Partnership

GRIN's legwork and Body Works Pilates's teachers and Balanced Body's equipment have given the girls' Sports Fitness Class at Amphi Middle School professional Fletcher Pilates instruction, within the curriculum.

That may not seem like much, but I am here to tell you that it is a monumental achievement.  Without the support of the school's administrative staff, without their determination that the program would succeed, without their fearlessness in the face of insurmountable (to me, anyway) obstacles, they tweaked and poked and prodded and together we came up with a solution that worked for everyone.

It's been going on since April 13, 2012.  That's 9 semesters of work, 9 semesters of girls who've gained strength and control, noticed by their Coach and classroom teacher, verified by those who've gone before them.  We've done research and measurements on physical and psychological dimensions over the years, and now, with the help of the friendly folks at AlignaBod, we have the perfect tool.

The girls aren't that interested in how many seconds they can hold a plank.  That doesn't translate to their lives outside the gym.  These are 12 and 13 year old girls; they spend a lot of time looking in the mirror.

If I can show them in pictures how their bodies have adapted to their work on the mats, if they can see themselves standing straighter and taller, if they can hold the pictures in their hands or put them on their locker door or bulletin board at home....

Do such things still exist?  Is Facebook the digital bulletin board? Ah, once again, I digress .... 

.... I think it will make a big difference.

I took three photos of each student.  They faced forward, to the side, and to the grid.

I aligned them with the bold vertical line but gave them no instruction other than

Just stand there.  

Some were stiff and some were loose and some were delighted to join in the fun.

I asked each of them to write her name on a clean page of the yellow mini-legal-pad (scrubbed, there on the left, for obvious reasons) and to respond to this prompt:

using this scale: 

Are you impressed with my high-tech materials?

In December, I'll repeat the process and consider my findings.

I'll print the pictures for the girls, and hope for the best.

My expectations have already been met.