On almost every Tuesday during the football season, Sydney Swans players trek out to schools around Sydney to present the TeamSWANS Healthy Choices Program to Year Six students.
This week, the six Year 6 classes at Matthew Pearce Public School were delighted to have 18 Sydney Swans players in their classrooms for almost two hours. The players presented a lively, interactive presentation based around the importance of making good choices in life.
Nick Malceski, Ed Barlow and Daniel O’Keefe visited teacher Julie Graham’s 6D class. 6D had a great morning. They learned about all sorts of things, from eating healthy food to improving the way they communicate.
The players began the morning by introducing themselves as Mal, Cheese and Doc, then got the kids on their feet with some warm ups. The vocal group were easily audible from a fair distance, and they almost certainly achieve their goal: to disturb the principal.
After jumping their jitters out, the class got down to business. In the half hour that followed, the students participated in several fun activities designed to help them learn to communicate.
But by far the most interesting part of the morning was when the students paired up to discuss three personal questions. They were asked to answer:
1.) If you could be anything, what would you be?
2.) If you could make any food appear in front of you, what food would you choose?
3.) What is one quality of a true friend?
The students presented their partner’s responses to the questions, while scribe Daniel O’Keefe wrote a list of the responses on the board. The range of replies was compelling: for every student who wanted to play in the English Premier League, there was one who hoped to be a vet, or even a mermaid!
Once the student finished sharing their responses, Barlow took the reigns, and talked to 6D about the foods they liked and the importance of eating a balanced diet, particularly eating sweets in moderation. Malceski told 6D about his fondness for Vanilla Slice, but told the students he only eats it once each fortnight, as a special treat.
Finally, “Cheese” Barlow asked 6D student Steve to explain goals and aims. Steve’s excellent explanation allowed the students to put the principles into practise straight away with a handballing activity.
Together, the class set a goal: to land fifteen handpasses in a garbage bin. When the class of 25 had only managed to land eight of their attempts, they learned to reassess their goal and use the resources they had to meet the new goal.
Eventually, the class met their goal, and each of the members of 6D was rewarded with a brand new TeamSWANS football to take home.
The TeamSWANS Healthy Choices visit is just one part of the overall TeamSWANS community program. Through the support of the Oncology Children's Foundation, as partner in the program, the TeamSWANS Community Development and Code Promotion Program aims to provide assistance to charitable causes whilst supporting the AFL and their promotion of the game in NSW.
