|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Westminster Christian School Junior Matthias Meyer loves to play soccer. Playing the game gets him outside and exercising, which is a healthy activity. Last spring, he noticed that because of the pandemic, children have been stuck indoors and they haven’t been able to go outside and play.
He came up with Pinecrest Plays, a program that gets children engaged and playing outside. He called the Pinecrest Parks and Recreation Director and pitched him the idea.
“I presented him with a power point outlining what the program would look like,” Meyer says. “He ended up loving it.”
The program began this fall. Currently 10-15 students are attending Pinecrest Plays Saturdays to learn new skills.
“They learn different things and play different games,” he says. “We’ve done kick ball, soccer, softball, flag football, sack races and beanbag toss. It’s growing every day.”
To build the numbers, Meyer frequently passes out flyers touting the program and set up an Instagram page @Pinecrestplays.
Pinecrest Plays days are every first and third Saturday of the month. There are around 30 teens who are ready to volunteer, but 5-8 show up on Saturdays, depending on how many are needed.
“There’s one volunteer to two kids,” he says. “It’s motivating to mentor them. It’s easy to build a relationship with the kids that keep coming back.”
Meyer expects the program to expand.
“Every single time we have a session, there are one or two more than before,” he says. “The last time, a mom told me the volunteers were so nice and the program was so good. The kid told his mom to bring him back. He’s only six years old. He’s done things he’s never done before.”
The program is completely free and for children from 5-12.
Meyer plays club soccer at Tropical Park for the Tropical Westchester Optimist Club and this year he is also playing soccer at Westminster.
Before transferring to Westminster this year, Meyer spent years in the rigorous International Baccalaureate program where he specialized in German. He started German in first grade at Sunset Elementary and spent two years at the Coral Reef High School IB program before transferring. His only regret about transferring is that Westminster doesn’t offer German, the language he studied for ten years.
“My first language was Spanish,” he says. “I’d say I’m fluent in English, Spanish and German.”
At Westminster he has joined Mu Alpha Theta, Rho Kappa Honor Society, and the National English Honor Society.
His family enjoys travel and recently took a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit his mother’s family.
“We usually go to the beaches and then visit my family in the city,” he says. “This time we went to the outskirts, and we spent more time serving the less-fortunate by bringing them more than 100 articles of clothing. We really made their day when we handed it out to them.”
This coming summer, Meyer is scheduled to go on a Blue Missions trip to provide water to a remote village.
At Coral Reef he was a member of the German Honor Society and the Salsa Club, where he learned how to dance.
He’s happy to have made the switch because now he is able to participate in more extracurricular activities at Westminster. Getting to school is also easier since he can drive his sister to school.
For college Meyer is interested in the University of Florida, Florida State, Duke or the University of North Carolina. He’s considering majoring in either Sports Management or Physical Therapy.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
