By Denise Roza | Project Leader
Nastya is in the sixth grade at School #2100 in Moscow. Because she has cerebral palsy, she sat on the bench during gym classes and just watched her schoolmates work out and play. Nastya wanted to get involved and play with her friends, but she was afraid to — she didn’t know how to get started and was afraid that her classmates wouldn’t let her play with them.
But at the start of the school year, a new project was introduced to the school under the supervision of the physical education teacher. It’s called “Children in Motion: Together is Better!” In this program children play games like ping pong that get them moving, work on improving basic physical development and learn new kinds of sports, including Paralympic sports like bocce, goalball and sitting volleyball.
When the gym teacher introduced the children to these new kinds of sports in their regular class, a lot of them really liked them. The teacher set up afterschool sessions, and more than 40 children signed up, including Nastya.
Nastya really got into the games. She doesn’t sit out her gym classes anymore. She trains along with her classmates and rushes off to the “Children in Motion: Together is Better!” afterschool sessions. Now she is at the same level as her peers in jogging and doing the “plank” exercise. But even more importantly, as soon as Nastya began to do sports she started to make new friends. Now she’s at the head of the class! The kids ask her to lead the warm-up exercises.
Nastya has changed into an open, happy, and very social little girl. Before she lacked self-confidence and had a lot of fears, but now the words “I can’t” aren’t part of her vocabulary.
By Olga Kotova | Project Leader
By Olga Kotova | Project Leader
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