Each month The S.M.A.R.T. Institute will feature a "Club of the Month".
It is a pleasure and honor to be the “club of the month” for afterschool activities at Austin East High School. We spend our Monday and Wednesday afternoons with amazing students who work hard and learn harder. At Tessera we believe that our students CAN and WILL accomplish anything they work toward and that holds true for our partnership after-school program at AE; we have an INCREDIBLE regularly attending group who constantly amazes us with their work ethic, effort, and excellent attitudes.
Each day, we begin with a snack and a discussion of the complex nutritional needs of the growing student with our faculty nutritionist and trainer. During this time, we encourage each individual to make healthy decisions that will impact their futures and their households. We’ve been learning about nutrition information, serving sizes, My Plate, nutrients, minerals, and food groups. We stress the importance of regular, nutrient-dense meals and how to make these options on a budget. As a group, we’re participating in an H2O challenge and our students are CRUSHING it!!!
Next, our team works on physical conditioning, stretching, and strength. We are teaching our students correct anatomical terms for their physiology along with its purpose and location. In conditioning, we’ve worked our students up to a full three-minute plank and have created age-appropriate and fun exercises to target their entire core and trunk and lengthen and strengthen their posture. Here, we discuss objectives like target heart rate, blood pressure, common chronic diseases, and stress.
Following conditioning, we move into dance. We are studying all styles and our students are quick and eager learners in ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary, and voguing. Dance styles and choreography possess a language and cultural relevance all their own; we focus on learning the correct terminology for each style and its history. Our master faculty creates a pedagogy designed to grow students at an appropriate pace, where they feel accomplished and make progress. Across all genres, our students focus on memorization, body control, timing, musicality, self-expression, and self-confidence.
We are grateful for our students and so proud of ALL of their progress thus far. We know that healthy, content, self-aware students achieve academically and create greater goals. It is our honor to walk alongside and support them on their path.
