Winner Wonderland: Diamond
Coach Garrett is ACE's Lead Academic Coach and a 5th grade teacher at Washington Elementary. She is the creative genius behind our STEM activities and advises us on different curricula materials. With decades of educational experiences, she makes sure our academic enrichment portion is both challenging and fun! Here is Coach Garrett’s Winner Wonderland story:
I noticed one our future tennis champions today. Today for some reason I REALLY SAW HER. Her name is Diamond. She is a third grader from Washington School. Cute braids. Sweet Smile. As our champions were rotating in centers-which are a variety of tennis development drills and practice opportunities to develop their overall tennis skills, I notice something about Diamond. By Golly, this girl was hitting every shot. She was practicing the drills with excellent execution. Yes. This third grader was fierce with her tennis skills. She didn’t start like this. Let me tell you about it.
At first, Diamond was not on the initial list for the tennis program. She came to Ms. Eaker to ask if she could participate in The ACE Project. After many requests with her bright smile and because she was so diligent in her request, a slot was found for her. Diamond started in the beginner’s skills group. She listened to instruction, learned the fundamentals and practiced. Her skills were developing in an awesome way.
So, I continued observing her. When she rotated to my center- (Wall hits) I noticed how she held the racket properly, how she used her forehand and backhand swings accurately. She hit the ball off the wall for more than a few times. Wow!! This girl was amazing. Our centers proceeded to rotate to the toss and catch drills. She was to throw the ball to her peer sideways and her peer was to catch it. This activity center develops their agility skills by exercising their flexibility. I observed how she teamed up with others and seemed to work together well. Diamond didn’t say much with her words but her eyes and her skills said something so loud I could hear it. I LOVE TENNIS!
Diamond is the Diamond in the rough. Who knows… Maybe this Diamond will be playing on the courts in the future. Go Diamond! Continue to be Awesome!!
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