The Pied Piper of Bridgetown

By Heather Killen

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

Two afternoons a week they stay after school and follow him across town.

Terry Saunders, a teacher and coach at the Bridgetown Regional Elementary School, has attracted an impressive following over the past several months.

Saunders and his former coach, Charlie Scarrow, started a free after-school program for local kids in October. Since then, Saunders’group has become the talk of the town.

Most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, he can be seen leading his troop up from the elementary school, along Granville St. to the fitness center on Bay Road.

“He’s the Pied Piper of Bridgetown,” said Steve Raftery, Bridgetown’s community development coordinator. “It’s something to see, sometimes there’s 20 kids following him through town.”

At a time when experts warn childhood obesity rates are alarmingly high and most children’s level of physical activity is low, there is no problem attracting kids to this fitness program.

“It’s fun,” said Sam, one of the regulars. Like many 10 year-olds, he lets the smile on his face tell it all.

The boys come in two groups, with the younger ones starting at 2:45 p.m., and the older high school boys coming closer to 4 p.m.

Numbers were down at last week’s program, with about a dozen boys joining in the Tuesday afternoon group. Saunders said he thought the previous storm day threw off some of the regulars.

While some played floor hockey, other boys played special games to test their coordination, or simply ran in circles in the centrifugal track.

Activities for the older group are more structured, according to Saunders.

A separate program is being offered for the elementary school girls on Mondays and Wednesdays. Initially they tried offering a program for the high school girls, but this was dropped after it wasn’t successful.

Scarrow said he isn’t surprised that the older girls didn’t participate, as this is an unfortunate downward trend for that age group.

He leads the girls group that meets on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. When the idea of the after-school program was proposed, he wanted to guarantee that the girls could fully participate in their own after-school fitness program.

“Too often when boys and girls are mixed, the boys take over and then the girls are left out,” he said. “I didn’t want that to happen here, I wanted the girls to have their own time.”

He added that giving the elementary school girls the same opportunity the boys have, will hopefully encourage them to remain active when they reach their high school years. Aside from removing some of the gender-related barriers, Scarrow also tries to give the girls access to positive role models.

Jenna Martin, one of Scarrow’s former track athletes, recently made a special visit to Bridgetown during the Christmas holidays.

Martin, who will compete in the Olympic trials in July, spent a few hours with the younger girls, signing pictures and talking to them.

“You’d think a movie star landed in Bridgetown,” said Scarrow. “Jenna is their Sydney Crosby.”

He added that when the girls see someone from a small town succeed like Martin has, it shows it’s possible for them all to succeed.

Overall - whether the program produces another Jenna Martin, or a Sydney Crosby - Scarrow said it has already succeeded beyond their hopes.

“Even just the group following Terry across town like that,” he said. “That’s more physical exercise than most kids get these days.”