Sydney Sachs: Life Lessons
Sydney Sachs is a 17-year-old high school senior from Chicago, Illinois. A former member of the U.S. Rhythmic Gymnastics national team for six years, Sachs has since turned her attention toward academics and preparing for college. Not one to be away from physical activity for long, Sachs came to us and asked about running her own GoGirlGo! program for underserved girls in Chicago. In a new weekly blog series, guest-blogger Sachs will share her experience as she teaches our award-winning GoGirlGo! curriculum, with a focus on rhythmic gymnastics, of course, to a group of Chicago girls. Her third blog:
This week was very exciting for the girls. I taught them how to use a ribbon! After hearing them beg for the ribbons, seeing their faces after learning how to do spirals, snakes, and figure eights was incredible! They also have learned the terms of some gymnastics moves. They were able to go through the warmup with almost no help!
Today we talked about smoking and drug abuse. I encouraged the girls to say "no" even when it's really hard to. Yet all understood how bad substance abuse is to our body and shared how they would be unable to participate in sports if they were using. It was so reassuring to know that the girls understand the negative effects of drugs and alcohol.
I can't wait to see the girls next week and teach them more about this beautiful sport.