More kids want to do Youth Run! This fantastic news in all respects except one: I suddenly have about 15 new names to learn. It doesn't sound like much, but for me, it was a challenge. Was. I finally feel comfortably caught up with all of the new kids, partially due to my co-coaches idea for a name-learning and introduction game. The group arranged itself in a circle, and one by one we would introduce ourselves and do a quick dance to associate with our name. After the introduction, everyone would repeat the new dance and then recall all the past name/dance pairs. It was definitely silly, but somehow remarkably effective for learning so many names at once.

In addition to Youth Run, this month I participated in a Habitat for Humanity build. It was cold and wet, but this Habitat build remained unique in that one of the other volunteers was going to be a recipient of the house. I don't know if she's an experienced builder, but she was on fire that day, offering to carry everything and throwing advice out like it was beads at Mardi Gras. Despite the dreary day, she lifted everyone's spirits and made the whole experience that much more special.

Total January Hours: 16
Total Semester Hours: 16

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