Strive to be a Winner!

Welcome to the Winners Walk Tall Character Coach Blog!  My name is Meghan Cappel.  I am a freshman at the University of Cincinnati.  I am a marketing major in the Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS program.  While I have many passions, I want to focus leadership.  I have chosen to be a character coach for Winners Walk Tall at Oyler Elementary School.  Each Wednesday, I head to Oyler for a half hour to teach the children that they are winners!  I will also be analyzing different types of leadership in order to learn as much as I can about becoming a successful leader.


Week 1- Strive to be a Winner


I walked into a class of 25 rowdy kids in grades K-2... needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed.  Would I be able to handle this many children?  Would I make an impact in their lives?  Can I help them be winners, even when they may struggle in school or not have a steady family life?  Many questions filled my head as I wanted to be a positive role model for these children.  


Introductions were made- each kid had to say their name and how they were a winner (a goal they wished to accomplish, a sport the play, dream occupation).  I was shocked that many of the children were not confident enough to stand up in front of the class to state something brief about themselves.  After much coaxing, many of the nervous kids were able to state their names.  I took this as a good sign- they were responding well.  


We also played Little Winner Walker, a game where students run around in circles while singing a song.  At the end of a song, the students must do a dance move.  It's important for me to get these kids up, so they can have fun and rid themselves of some energy!  


The signature piece of Winners Walk Tall is the neon pink hat worn by all volunteers at each visit.  At the end of each lesson, one of the students gets to pick out of the hat a piece of paper with the day's theme printed on it.  The student then reads to the class what it says and is encouraged to take the paper home with them to remember to always be a winner.  This week's theme was STRIVE TO BE A WINNER.  I had the class repeat it several time, growing louder and gaining more enthusiasm each time.  


Before leaving that day, I posed the question, "Who considers them self a winner?"  Each child raised their hand as high as possible.  SUCCESS!