Take five for just a moment and pause for reflection. Let your mind float back to the carefree days of your youth. Let the rustling of autumn leaves crunch beneath your feet as you smell the crisp, cool air. Let the glow of candles from Jack—O-Lanterns on doorsteps dance in your mind as you play in the greatest costume of all time! Are you there? Can you picture it?
Now take a step further into the memories of your childhood and see if you can for just a moment pick out the teacher, coach, or role model who had a profound impact on the course of your life. Maybe it was the teacher that saw your gifts and talents that no one else could see. Or the coach that saw your potential and helped you persevere through the challenges before you both on and off the field.
Can you picture them? Can you still hear their words of life, love, and wisdom speaking over you? Can you still feel the swell of emotion and gratitude within as they stood by your side, encouraged you, and helped guide you with a greater purpose than perhaps either of you realized at the time?
These precious souls that blessed our lives, these trusted adults who made the purposeful decision to have our back, maybe even when no one else did, are not easily forgotten. Their impact on our journey has left its unique and beautiful stamp upon our life. And for that, how grateful we all are to have had that special person in our lives!
As the world continues to reel amid the ongoing pandemic and the wide-ranging impacts it has had upon all of our lives, it goes without saying that we are seeing more and more children, teens, and adults struggling with their mental, emotional health, and well-being than we could have ever anticipated. These struggles for children and teens especially are only further amplified by the natural, expected processes of growth and development they continue to undergo just as they are meant to. Developmental windows and seasons of increased physical, intellectual and emotional growth are all still occurring simultaneously as changes in school, extracurricular activities, and other areas of their lives shift unexpectedly.
As Proud Ninja Parents, educators, coaches, and role models, we are all called to be:
The Supporter
The Nurturer
The Guide
Let this truth really sink in!
If it weren’t for the trusted adults throughout the course of your life that took the time and effort to pour a little bit of themselves into you, would you be who you are today?
As SKILLZ Certified Instructors and Pediatric Ninja Specialists, we take very seriously the impact we have on the lives of each and every one of our students. When you came to us in our studio that very first day, you saw something in the instructor, felt something in the atmosphere, and knew that we were meant to be a part of your child’s and family’s story. And for that, we are so very honored and blessed!
Being the role model now for the youth that we are blessed to serve, the ones that we too needed when we were children, takes purposeful practice and focused intention. How do SKILLZ Certified Instructors and Pediatric Ninja Specialists step with purpose into our roles of supporter, nurturer, and guide?
- Connection and Attunement: Just as we discuss and encourage through our Parent SKILLZ Program, so too do we professionally practice the necessary elements of Connection; bonding with your child, meeting them where they are at, taking the time and opportunity to learn what makes them uniquely special so that we can be better Attuned to their needs, especially when mental, emotional and/or social challenges arise.
- Collaboration and Education: We are constantly furthering our education in Childhood Development through programs like the SKILLZ Certified Pediatric Ninja Specialist Training provided by SKILLZ Worldwide. In addition, we choose to surround ourselves with fellow colleagues such as educators, social workers, and therapists who help to nurture and support our understanding and knowledge base so that we may step with purposeful intention into helping every child we serve physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
Far beyond the awesome ninja spinning kicks and Superman punches beats the true heart of our mission and purpose; Supporting, nurturing, and guiding today’s youth.
We strive every day to be the role model your child needs us to be! Because no child or parent should ever walk through their incredible life’s journey alone. We are honored to walk alongside you and your child, teaching with great, intentional purpose, on and beyond the mats!