Juggling. It looks and sounds like a great trick only few can do. However, one Tallahassee man believes juggling is something more than just a performance act. He believes in enhancing education through this wonderful art form.
Dr. Don Rapp has quite a list of accomplishments listed on his resume. He was the first public school male kindergarten teacher in the state of Florida, has appeared on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and was featured on a special with Barbara Walters. He is currently a Kinetic Arts Instructor at the Chautauqua Boys and Girls Club summer program. To see his full resume visit his website http://donrapp.com.
Dr. Rapp recently visited fifth grade students at Gilchrist Elementary School to teach a juggling lesson. During this lesson, Dr. Rapp not only taught juggling, but he taught the students to be in touch with their bodies, particularly their brains. As an 82 year old, Dr. Rapp made squashed the "can't teach an old dog new tricks" theory. He explained to the students that at any age, you can continue to learn and accomplish great feats. His common theme to the lesson was to "be smarter today than you were yesterday."
Dr. Rapp began his lesson by teaching how to move the arms when juggling. He made the students become one with their brains as he explained how each movement is controlled by either the left or right hemisphere of the brain (for example when moving the left arm, the right hemisphere of the brain is really sending that signal to tell the left arm to move.) Juggling is a great way to get both hemispheres working together at the same time.
As the lesson continued, Dr. Rapp made sure the students rested between each new movement or task they were presented with. He explained the reason for this is that the brain gets tired. He told the students this applies to school work as well. He asked the students if they are ever presented with a piece of work or task they found to be tedious or boring. Of course the students all said yes! He explained to them that whenever they are presented with a task they feel they just can't push through, it is best to just stop, get up and walk around the room or get up and take a stretch break to let the brain cells rest for a while. More often than not, when the task is revisited after a kinesthetic movement, it becomes easier to focus on and complete.
By the end of the juggling lesson, 90% of the students were able to juggle three balls successfully. They learned that a "trick" that may seem impossible, is really achievable with practice, persistence, and an "I Can" attitude.
Before he left, Dr. Rapp showed us his famous "This is the House That Jack Built" routine. It is very impressive! Check out the YouTube video of Dr. Rapp's routine.
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