Branch Alert:  Pool is Closed for Annual Maintenance!

Features this Month:

• America on the Move - small changes to a healthier life
• Back to School Balance - Keep Kids Active
• 10 Tips for Keeping Kids Active
• Boll Family YMCA awarded the YMCA of USA Center for Global Excellence

Back to School Balance: Keep Kids Active

Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer break for Michigan students, and a shift from hours of daily outdoor play to hours spent over homework. Don’t let back to school time mean a return to a sedentary lifestyle for your family.

Kids need 60 minutes of physical activity every day, according to the National Institutes of Health's Weight-Control Information Network. But less than half of U.S. kids are getting this daily requirement, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“It can be a challenge to fit in an hour of physical activity during the school year,” said Harley Wallen, YMCA regional director of Personal Training and father of three young children. “The trick is to leverage off school, afterschool and weekend programs to get your daily supply of activity and have a closet packed with supplemental activities to keep the family moving.”

Wallen suggests building a monthly activity plan, one month at a time. Consider the following steps for fleshing out a meaningful plan:

School Routine

Inquire at your child’s school about gym, recess and other physical activities. It’s important to quantify only those activities that can be considered at least moderate in physical engagement. If your child walks or bikes to school, capture this activity.

Afterschool

With your child, explore sports and wellness programs. The YMCA has a variety of afterschool, evening and weekend programs—martial arts, yoga, soccer, dance, and more—to engage kids of all ages. Fall registration is currently underway.

Weekends

Explore the outdoors, using the seasons to guide your family’s choices. Fall’s a great time to hike, fish, kayak and bike in southeast Michigan. Don’t want to leave home? Grab a Frisbee, play basketball in the driveway, create an obstacle course—use what’s accessible.

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Boll Family YMCA awarded the YMCA of USA Center for Global Excellence

This September, The Boll Family YMCA will embark on a historic journey. Working in partnership with Freedom House, the Boll Family YMCA will begin offering programs to help Freedom House residents acclimate to the United States.

Freedom House helps refugees from around the world by providing legal services, housing, education, language training and job placement. Most of the residents come from places like Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Central America – areas that have experienced some of humanity’s worst abuses. When they arrive at Freedom House, often as victims of torture, and having witnessed unspeakable brutality, they apply for asylum. Freedom House represents a chance for a new life for themselves and their families in a country where human rights are guaranteed and free speech is a given.

The Boll Family YMCA will be offering computer literacy and education programs, arts and humanities programs, as well as fitness and aquatics programs in its role as a Center for Global Excellence. Many of the Freedom House residents possess special talents and skills and have already begun volunteering at the Y in order to give back to their new community. This historic journey will truly change the lives of our newest neighbors, but also the lives they will touch here in Detroit.

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