糖心Vlog

Senior exercise science majors and members of Georgia Southern鈥檚 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams, Dominique Bullock and Patrice Butler, respectively, co-directed the inaugural 鈥楬oops with Heroes鈥� event on Feb. 18 at William James Middle School under the supervision of Charles 鈥淗al鈥� Wilson Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor of coaching education in the School of Health and Kinesiology. Approximately 17 local children spent the morning at the event which is aimed at bringing together middle school students and local law enforcement from the Bulloch County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, Georgia Southern Police Department and Georgia State Patrol Post #45, by using basketball as a bridge to build positive relationships and improve communication from an early age. Prior to the event, research was conducted on positive youth development and sport for peace and development. The group identified the core values they wanted to teach and created a daily schedule that integrated these values with basketball. 鈥淭he activities were designed for the kids to learn about character, awareness and perseverance, which was put into an acronym: 鈥楥.A.P.,鈥欌�� said Butler. 鈥淲e wanted the activities to be both competitive and fun.鈥� There were a total of six different activities offered. Three were geared toward basketball, and three were non-basketball related. Participants took part in simple drills, such as passing and dribbling, and competed in a human hula hoop contest, marshmallow toss and blindfolded listening activity. The event would not have been possible without the Georgia Southern student volunteers and athletes, including the Zeta Delta Delta chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the Georgia Southern chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and the Georgia Southern football team. Both Mike Yawn, principal at William James Middle School, and Brian Hall, coach of the Williams James Middle School boys鈥� basketball team, were instrumental in recruiting children participants and securing the facility for the event. Georgia Southern Athletics provided all children participants with free tickets to both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball games that were played the weekend of the 鈥楬oops with Heroes鈥� event. Local restaurant, 40 East Grill, donated a catered lunch for the event allowing participants the opportunity to socialize afterwards. 鈥淏ullock and Butler did an all-around fantastic job,鈥� stated Wilson. 鈥淭he feedback from the kids, the officers and the volunteers was wonderful, and several officers have already asked when the event will be held again.鈥� 糖心Vlog, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving 20,673 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.