This semester, I have the privilege of teaching a class called Recreational Activities to Physical Education majors at the college where I work. Recreational Activities involves learning about different sports and activities that can be integrated into community or organizational programs for the betterment of health and mind. It can be a pretty mundane class as we go through rules, regulations, equipment and strategy of the game.
Generally, I will put together a PowerPoint with all the information I’m going to talk about in class. On the last slide, I will link to a YouTube video of the sport or activity being played. While searching through YouTube clips for the sport of baseball, I found something that made my class so much better. The clip involved a team of Goofies playing baseball against another team of Goofies. The video tells the rules and strategies of the game in a way only Disney can.
After a little more research, I was amazed to find clips of Goofy playing football, hockey and tennis. There were clips teaching him to dance, to fish, to take care of a dog, to swim and even to hook up a home theater system. I remembered all these shorts from when I was a little girl! Little did I know that as an adult I would be using these clips to help teach a college physical education class.
Yes, these YouTube videos provide a bit of comic relief, probably more for me than for the students, but they also provide great, accurate information on the activity. Who would have guessed that Disney could be educational for college kids, too? Not only do these videos help me keep the students’ attention, but they are fairly entertaining for me as well.
My goal in life is to find a way to fit Disney into everything I do. Sports is such a major part of me, and this was such an easy and creative way to make Disney work in my professional world. How are you fitting Disney in your professional life? Post a message, and let others know!
Contributed by: Jen Ginn (NDI#27) Jen is the DDL Pets and Sports Blogger. She is also the creator of Hyperion Travel Company.
Jen has had a fascination with the Disney culture since her first trip with her family when she was 12. After discovering that there was a community of people who were “as crazy as she was” about her love of all things Disney, she started finding ways to visit WDW more often and give back to the community. In 2010, Jen started her own company, Hyperion Travel, and became a Disney Destination Specialist. As an avid endurance athlete and a college volleyball coach, Jen is very connected to the WDW athletic world. She also trained and completed the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon. As a pet travel specialist, Jen brings unique destination advice to her clients by “experiencing the magic” with her bulldog, Lucy. You can follow Jen and Lucy on Twitter at @hyperionginn and @thedisneydog, or visit her website, hyperiontravelco.com, or Lucy’s website at disneydogblog.com.
