My students need stability/exercise balls for warm up stretches, yoga, core muscle training, hamstring curls, and a plethora of other exercises to build flexibility for our team sport.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Melgar's classroom raised $995
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
We live a sedentary life because everything is at our fingertips. Often kids stay in to watch television, play video games, or watch videos on their portable devices. How do we change that culture? How do we motivate our children to go out and play sports?
Babe Ruth once said, "You just can't beat the person who never gives up." I want to motivate and give my students the drive to never give up.
For the last three years, I've coached an after school baseball club at my school for all interested students to get them active and moving. To teach them about sportsmanship. To help them understand that there is a life beyond the screen.
My Project
Four years ago, I formed a school-wide after school baseball team. The turnout has been amazing. Over this period, we have produced some fine baseball players in a rough inner city neighborhood. My goal is to offer my students and other students in the school an opportunity to not only develop a love for the game, but to develop the discipline needed to build on the fundamental skills of baseball while staying off the streets.
Many of our students are starting with the fundamentals skills of baseball, while others are sharpening their saws.
We are working on our posture, catching, throwing, and batting.
With the addition of our stability exercise balls, students can work on their flexibility in order to improve in their baseball game. We will use the balls to do push ups, plank, hamstring curl, half circle obliques, to name a few. We will also use the ball for yoga stretches during warm ups before the game and wind down after the games.
Once the students have all learned how to play, they have the opportunity to be promoted to the traveling school baseball team and even host a family game of kids versus parents. We will be using the requested equipment both for practice and for our official game. We already have our team shirts!
Sports Matter!
I grew up in an improvised neighborhood and sports is what kept me out of trouble. Being a part of a team kept me focused and disciplined and that is what I want to do for my students. Our after school baseball club instruction is allowing our students to learn rules and regulations of different games, build friendships, condition their bodies, develop sportsmanship, and most importantly stay active and safe. This has also been improving our students' attendance!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Melgar and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
