KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Kalamazoo College student-athletes worked together to create a website which provides videos for Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) students to remain active during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the video project website, the goal is to educate KPS students about Kalamazoo's sports, workouts, and ways to stay healthy.
Hornet junior Larkin O'Gorman came up with the idea for the video project after observing her fifth-grade sister's online learning experience. "I could tell she needed to be moving more," stated O'Gorman. "Kids like and need to be active. It actually helps with learning. Her PE teachers are doing a good job but sometimes it’s nice to mix in something different!"
O'Gorman plays both lacrosse and soccer, while also serving as a member of Kalamazoo's Executive SAAC Board (community service).
"Apart from helping the kids stay active, having college athletes run such videos is a good way to have positive role models and start to spark the idea that they to can be college student-athletes one day," O'Gorman commented. "We as athletes saw an opportunity to help K-12 students take a break from the virtual world and get active."
"I am proud of the initiative that SAAC has taken to continue to put our community first during these challenging times," commented Kalamazoo Director of Athletics Becky Hall. "When Larkin brought this to SAAC, she was excited to get others involved. I have enjoyed viewing the videos and watching our student-athletes help others while living out their passion. These have not only gone to local schools but also to our Area 16 Special Olympic friends, whom we miss dearly!"
The website currently features the following videos: the 100 challenge, men's lacrosse basics, football workout, ACL prevention stretches, lacrosse full-body workout, soccer warm up, volleyball core workout, basketball basics, tennis jump rope workout, tennis warm down and soccer core workout.
"It was an honor to have the opportunity to create a video and give back to the Kalamazoo community," stated junior football player Jamison Brown, Jr.
"I was really impressed by this video project idea when Larkin reached out to me," said junior women's lacrosse player Lily Rogowski. "I have never filmed or edited a video before, so this was not an easy task, but being active and exercising has been essential to giving me a sense of normalcy and routine during the pandemic, so I was excited to take on the challenge. I know that working out isn't 'fun', but I tried to make the video visually interesting by filming outside on my college campus and by including a variety of exercises that can be done anywhere -- whether it be inside or outside -- in order to reach a broad audience."
Check out the KPS video project at https://sites.google.com/view/kps-video-project/home.
