Eltham Term Week 6 2018

Wednesday was another busy day for our bodies and mind. We met the young people at Eltham station and headed to Eltham Leisure centre to met Jordan. On this day our bus was having some issues with starting and so we got our warm up for the gym by walking to the leisure centre. Its great to see how enthusiastic everyone is to get to the gym to play some ball or get started on their programs. Once at the centre we met Jordan and Mary from Health Ability, played some basketball and then got stuck into our own fitness programs. Each young person worked hard to get through their programs and stayed active for the whole session. After this we had some lunch in the sun and then headed to Health Ability for our Reconnect session. During this session we met with Luke, Mary and Ros to discuss and learn about our brains. We spoke about the fight, flight and freeze response, what triggers them and what effect they have on the body. We also spoke about how to prevent false triggers and about how our brains make up influences all of this. It was a session filled with valuable knowledge and insight from all.

Thursday was an exciting day for the young people as it was our second day at REACH. REACH runs two sessions throughout the school term that has the same young people involved. I know for our young people, they were excited to go back. Much like last time only the young people are allowed in the workshop so I can't report on exactly what went on. From speaking to the young people it was much like last time as they had a focus on reflection and story sharing. Each of them walked out happy to be a part of the program and feel good about the session. We said goodbye ready for our busy day tomorrow. Friday was a day that tested our resilience as it was pouring with rain and we were going canoeing! We picked up the students from Eltham station and headed up the road to met with Kelto from Rubicon. Kelto is a long term friend of the program and is the main teacher from Rubicon Outdoors who runs our expedition camp. With all of us there and introductions done we geared up, got into our canoes and onto the Yarra river. With Kelto running the show we were able to show off our existing canoeing skills, learn new skills and practice safety procedures. This day is an important one as it is our practice for next weeks three day expedition camp. With admiration to the young people, they did a great job at staying resilient during this day. We had people tip in and boats capsize but we all stayed on task and were able to give Kelto peace of mind that we would be okay on next weeks camp. It was a wet day overall but an enjoyable nonetheless. We said goodbye with a camp list in hand and excited for next weeks challenge.