The Institute has long been committed to staying engaged with its surrounding communities and this year we were delighted to partner with Mr. Chris Henderson, the athletic director of the Lansing School District, to offer a series of workshops to local high school and middle school students athletes. ISYS graduate students collaborated to produce three separate workshops for students engaged in sessions focused on social and emotional development.

The workshops included a round robin style of sessions, where students were split into groups and rotated through the various sessions, all led by ISYS graduate students. Session topics included: teamwork, leadership, communication, conflict management, and mindfulness. Hosted at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse, sessions took full advantage of using the large space where groups could sit and practice mindfulness skills, engage in role play with conflict management, practicing their drawing and communication skills, write and reflect on their leadership styles, and successfully cross the lava river with their teammates. During these sessions the student athletes got the chance to interact with peers from different schools within the district and learn valuable lessons that they could take home to their own teams.

These workshops provided over 100 high school and 93 middle school student athletes the chance to take a half day off of school to learn and to have fun. Eight of the Institute’s own graduate students enjoyed the challenge of providing fun and engaging workshops to such a large number of students and were very grateful for the opportunity to share their work with the local community. A special thanks to them for their hard work, creativity, flexibility, and enthusiasm. These workshops would not have been possible without them.