3rd Visit Kids With Dreams

Thomas Brown
Date: February 18, 2017
Organization: Kids With Dreams
Supervisor: Will Bannick

My visits to Kids With Dreams thus far have been impactful as I've seen how the program helps these kids with special needs develop their social skills by interacting with one another. I've found that the goal of Kids with Dreams is not to actually teach the kids basketball, but to put them in a social situation where they are forced to wait their turn to shoot the ball, to pass the ball to other people as well as step out of their comfort zone and take a shot themselves. Through the times I've been there, I've seen many kids become much more agreeable when it comes to things like standing in line, waiting their turn and following instructions, most likely as they have begun to trust us (the coaches) more. I've known one of the participants, Aidan, for pretty much all my life as he used to go to church with me and I can see how he has grown through his experience at Kids With Dreams. Initially he was always standing to the side and would only participate when directly told to by a coach, but now he seems to be much more comfortable interacting with the other kids and even runs up and down the court when we scrimmage. Knowing Aidan prior to working with Kids With Dreams helped provide me with some perspective going in, and I knew that I would not actually be "coaching" the kids, rather acting as more of a role model and helping them have an enjoyable time.