Beat the Weight

Yes, things are brewing at Beat the Weight! Here's a quick summary... We were able to reconnect with CCA which has been wonderful and productive. We've been able to chat with our previous primary contact as well as meet new coordinators. After discussing existing engagement opportunities and logistics, we've written a detailed proposal for a remote program aimed at employment readiness. Specifically, we will be focused on goal-setting and planning, accountability, and emphas...izing how mental and physical health are huge factors in overall success. Participants would be older teens and young adults (16-24) who have had some involvement with the justice system, although they may or may not have been detained. There is also the potential to create an internship or two. We're taking this step-by-step, though. Ideally, if everything works out, we would start an 8-week pilot program in early September. As we know more, we'll share with all of you!

It’s been a minute. A long minute. At the end of the Spring semester in May, 2018, we were on the brink of moving an entire business, so we declined to host Beat The Weight groups for CCA for the following semester.... We settled in to the new place and wondered if it would be realistic to provide a secure environment for the afterschool program. We expanded the gym, bringing in other partners and coaches. We shut down the gym due to COVID-19. We are waiting to reopen. Meanwhile, the world kept revolving. Lately, it seems like it’s been devolving. Now more than ever we need to help the disenfranchised. The disparity that continues to exist in the United States has been put in clear view by the disproportionate effect that COVID-19 has had on the health and financial welfare of Black and Brown Americans as well as the unending and blatant murder and aggressive treatment of Black men and women at the hands of the police (not to mention White vigilante citizens). Racism permeates our culture. We see it daily. We need to proactively seek change. The break was never meant to be permanent, but it should not have been this long. And while there were specific reasons we stopped, there is no excuse to have failed to start up again. It would be easy to say that we didn’t have the time or energy. But life is not easy and the world won’t wait on us. Do we not have time to participate? We don’t have time NOT to do so. Ideally, we’d like to continue working with the organizations that we had been partnering with before; but changes that may be instituted by COVID-19 might not allow for that. Maybe we can work with them but in a different manner. Regardless, there are a million ways that Beat The Weight can be an effective partner and continue its mission. BTW has a broad scope and fluidity. We seek to lift up those who need a hand - whether they have been left behind due to class, color, gender, religion, immigration status, etc. With that, there is much work to be done.

AND THAT’S A...RAP SNACK? Once again, it has been an interesting semester with emotional ups and downs, some productive and other seemingly wasted days, enthusiasm and disinterest. We form tenuous connections, unsure of whether they will last. One thing that we hoped would make the program a little more memorable for the youth was the planned mini-meet. As mentioned previously, because it is difficult to get across what Beat the Weight does at the end-of-year showcase, and be...cause we won’t be available to conduct the session next week, we had coordinated with CCA (and staff) to do an in-house competition to wrap up the semester this week. The group wasn’t able to be dismissed early from school as we had hoped, so we ended up short on time. This made it a little chaotic, especially as we were getting everyone warmed up for their events. Each teen chose what they wanted to do: squat, bench, or deadlift. We thought we’d also get to do a curl contest, but that was cut due to time constraints. Several of the youth ended up doing more than one event. All in all, they really pulled it together, being inspired by one another and generally applying good technique. In the end, there was one winner in each category. Of course, this type of celebration and challenge calls for some awards. Enter Rap Snacks. Rap Snacks are both very popular and under the radar. They are flavored chips with each variety named after a rapper or group. Apparently, they began in 1994 (!), quietly went away in 2011, and then came back strong in 2016. The company was started by an industry veteran and continues to be supported by the rap community. The bag illustrations and unique flavors are part of the appeal. They are mostly found on the East Coast but also in pockets of the Midwest and Texas. Most of the youth really wanted the Migos style. Unfortunately, Migos (both the group and the chips) are popular with everyone and the CCA coordinator looked in three different bodegas without any luck. However, she did come armed with other Rap Snacks flavors (Fabolous, Fetty Wap, etc.) and Gatorade, which was the other requested item. We also pitched in and got some additional snacks just for fun. Everyone got offered each type of drink and snack; but the three winners got TWO bags of Rap Snacks. Once again, we find that our interaction with the youth is a two-way street. You never know what you might discover. Rap Snacks. Just one more thing we should’ve known about but didn’t.

PARTY OF TEN We’ve mentioned before that sometimes the energy during Beat the Weight is overwhelming. It feels like people are bouncing off the walls. We’ve had session every two weeks lately, due to the school schedule, but we’ve had 10 youth in attendance! Every single additional participant increases the level of activity and take exponentially more focus. We have continued to conduct the sessions with a combination of order and improvisational flow. Working with a range o...f students who vary from extremely interested and excited to begrudgingly engaged, we have been able to support those who want to be productive without alienating anyone. It also seems that as the teens see us more often, they are more comfortable being in the gym for the hour. That goes for all of them, even if they initially grumble about it. But there is a balance in that the comfort hasn’t led to them taking advantage of us or the environment. In general, everything’s been good. In conjunction with the house staff, we are developing an end-of-year mini-competition. We are letting the teens contribute their ideas of what they’d like to do which isn’t limited to the traditional powerlifts. Additionally, we would like to come up with some incentives as prizes. We can offer t-shirts and we’re hoping that, again, the staff can think of some rewards within the program that would be appropriate and meaningful to the youth. We don’t expect them to get too excited about the contest. After all, they are teenagers and not little kids. But we think it’ll be good for morale and hopefully leave them with a positive experience overall.

WHATCHA WANT Tired and hungry, the group rolls out of the van. The trip from Belmont Academy can take up to 45 minutes, depending on traffic. It isn’t surprising that the youth fall asleep during the ride. At this point in the day, the teens are done with school but not yet allowed to be back at their placement center. Their after school activities are supposed to be enriching and a mental break. They certainly wouldn’t get this opportunity if they had been placed in a stric...ter facility or been sentenced to jail. And yet we get the sense that these boys feel that they are entitled to more. They are angry about the institution. But, obviously, where they are is a consequence of their own actions. Regardless, when this group shows up, they are groggy, dragging, and annoyed. We don’t know who’s responsible for procuring their snacks or why they sometimes have one but don’t at other times. It may be because the late afternoon is when the staff shift change happens so maybe the roles aren’t clear. Often one of the kids complains that they haven’t eaten all day. But that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Not eating is, again, their own choice. They don’t like the food at school. Who knows what the breakfast situation is, but considering that there are adults responsible for cooking them dinner each night, there must be some decent provision for the morning, too. Certainly, it can’t be the best nutritional situation for growing teenagers. But it is unbelievable that it’s a hardship, either. It’s tempting to want to feed the guys. But doing that opens a can of worms and, worst of all, they may not appreciate it. They want what they cannot have; usually only because it’s off-limits. The attitude may run deeper than a sense of entitlement. It may stem from not having, from worrying about lacking. But that’s not how it comes across. For instance, try to give them each a protein bar - after they beg for it - and it’s nasty. The food gets wasted, half (at best) eaten, and thrown out. The question for us is always: how best can we help? It’s more complex, because the deeper question is: how do we do this when the people we are trying to help are so...demanding?