School Talks and Community Events

Our Leadership Blog has been invaded by two other blogs!  Well, this one is special to me because it gives me the chance to post pictures and stories about special classes I get to teach and other things I think are important.  In the past, I've posted about ATAfit, school talks, and special classes we have coming up.  We have some special events coming up soon - Here are some links to stories I've written about them, after the classes, check back to see the pictures of how we inspire health and fitness for kids and adults, community activism, and special safety seminars:

Elkton Fall Fest - Click this LINK!

Personal Achievement Academy - Click this LINK!

ATAfit Circuit Training

The ATAfit class at my school in Elkton, MD has been blowing up and I'm proud to hear a bunch of positive comments on the workouts that we've been doing.  Mrs. Stanley has been a big part of the success this summer because she has taken over teaching half of the ATAfit classes.  The students have been talking about how great she's doing and when I watch, I'm definitely impressed.  She has come "out of her shell" since starting to teach ATAfit and you can see the difference in the other classes she teaches too.

For the circuits, they are challenging for anyone but, the way that they're structured, anyone can do it and the people that need a challenge will definitely get one.  Just for fun, I've named all the circuits after Mortal Kombat characters!  Awesome, right?  Well, you don't have to be a video game freak to have an awesome, fun workout in 'fit class, just come and remember your favorite workouts.

Baraka is a dirty nasty looking fighter with big blades that come out of the top of his hands.
The latest circuit is named for him because when you mess with Baraka, you're going to get cut!

Personal Achievement Academy on the loose!

Mr. Hayhurst has huge Personal Achievement Academy seminars planned for this year!  It's going to be hosted by the YMCA in Elkton and we're even bringing in businesses from the community to talk about their services, give away prizes, and sponsor kids to do martial arts at ATA and do the seminars!  The seminars are Kid Power: Success Course (A's of an all star student), Bully Defense, and Child Safety.  They are going to be huge!  The sponsorships are Make-a-difference level, Community Activist Level, and Community Super Hero Level!  The first seminar is September 24th so get registered right away!

Mr. Hayhurst inspires Barb from Tendercare
Learning Centers to be an advocate of Personal Achievement Academy!

Exciting school modifications

So last Tuesday when I came into the school it smelled horrible!!  My marketing theme has always been that we're one of the only martial arts school around that doesn't smell like feet!!  Well, I've smelled this specific smell before and it's because the back door gets some water that comes in under it when it rains a lot - and last week was kind of like a tsunami!  Here's a picture of where the smell was coming from:

So since I knew it was from water, I went to Home Depot and got a carpet steamer and vac and cleaned the carpet really well.  While I had it, I steam cleaned the ATA mats too.  The next day, it still smelled!  So I went a little crazy and ripped up all the carpet and padding, tack strips, the cove base, and parts of the drywall with it.  As you can see from the next picture, there was a lot of water.  That night, I really went to work. 

So I bought some materials for a little bit of a DIY adventure.  I don't like the carpet that was in the hallway so I bought some new floor covering.  The paint on the walls isn't that great, it isn't easy to clean.  I got a ton of liquid nails and silicone to seal off the door way so no water can make it through ever again.  After a couple days, the hallway was dried out and we could begin the project!

May 22nd, Before...

Today we spent about 9 hours cutting wood, painting, taping off the walls, putting down the new floor covering with the new padding, then cleaning everything up.  I think it looks really good!  It reminds me of a rock recording studio!  Next, I'm going to find a pull up bar to hang in that hallway for some new fun in ATA fit class!

May 22nd, After!

Now how are we going to throw around those cinder blocks in Monday night's fit class?

School talk at Chesapeake City Elementary

Today I did a school talk for one of my best students at ATA Elkton, Miki Guina.  He's really good in class because he always tries his best and he always looks like he's having fun.  He's gotten a lot better since he first started and his little brother might be starting too so he's going to be the leader of the "Guina Karate Guys" at home (lol).  Well, one of my favorite things to do is go to a specific classroom and turn one of my best students into a rockstar for his or her class mates.  So all through the class, he stood next to me like an assistant instructor and at the end, he broke a wooden board.  Most kids have never broken our rebreakable boards and even less have broken a wooden board (or even seen one broken in person).  As soon as Miki broke it, all his classmates jumped up and went crazy cheering for him.  I even heard a little girl say, "Miki is so cool!"  I wish someone said that to me when I was in elementary school!  To top off all of it, I asked Miki to choose a friend that helps him get better in school... not a trouble maker or someone that just wants to have fun instead of doing his or her work first.  He chose his best friend and he got to break a board too! Mrs. Powers was so generous to let me come to her classroom and I really appreciate it.  Check out the pose Mrs. Powers struck at the end of the class!

Mr. Hayhurst and Mrs. Powers strike a pose in her classroom at Chesapeake City Elementary

Leeds Elementary Fun & Fitness Day

Yesterday Mr. Hayhurst visited the kids at Leeds Elementary School in Elkton, MD.  Our theme of the day was Bully Education.  The kids learned that fighting at school is not OK but everyone has the right to defend themselves.  Part of our class involved the students training to become a "martial arts athlete."  With this event, Mr. Hayhurst had this to say:

Students are organized by grade.  They are getting ready to say the pledge of allegiance

"The kids at Leeds are used to me coming because I've been there for the last three years.  When they see me, they always get excited and a lot of them remember my name.  That's the coolest part.  When I show them a technique or give them a short talk, they're quick to answer up with a YES SIR! and I can tell those kids are influenced by really great teachers.  Over the past year, the schools have said that bullying is a big concern and childhood obesity has been an increasing problem for the last fifteen years.  Our classes have changed to keep pace with the needs of our community."

Mr. Hayhurst has been the instructor on tour teaching martial arts, self defense, and fitness to kids in Elkton, North East, Rising Sun, and Cecilton.  The schools that our ATA Martial Arts and Personal Achievement Academy instructors will be attending in the future are - Thomson Estates, Elkton Middle, and Holly Hall.  After that, there are a few seminars scheduled for the Boys and Girls Clubs in Cecil County and the YMCA.

Cecilton Elementary Fun & Fitness Day

Last Friday, Mr. Hayhurst was the instructor at Cecilton Elementary who taught 400 kids a martial arts self defense lesson.  He had this to say about it:

The different teams are getting ready on the blacktop

"It was wild, I had 15 minutes to teach about 25 kids at a time a quick martial arts lesson.  The coolest part about it was, since I came to their gym class earlier in the year, they already knew the stuff that I was teaching and I got to teach them a little more.  It was a lot of fun with team challenges and partner drills.  Also, the fastest kid because the "Champion of the Day" and they got to be MY partner when I demonstrated different techniques.  I have to give a lot of credit and respect to the teachers at Cecilton because they are one of the main reasons why the kids there are so well behaved, disciplined, and follow directions really well.  Their attitudes are really positive and they get excited about every activity and always try their best.  That school is definitely impressive."

Martial Arts Instructors from Elkton, Maryland will be teaching at many schools this year in Cecil County.  Mr. Hayhurst was at Cecilton Elementary last Friday and will be at Leeds Elementary Monday, May 16th.