- Diverse range of programming to meet the
needs of the community
- Effective leadership techniques and variety of class designs
- CALA Certified Aquafitness, Water Running/Jogging, Aqua Kick
Box, Aqua Natal and Aqua for Older Adult Specialty Instructors
- Commitment to continuing education
- Focus on safety and quality of instruction
- Known as a top training and educational facility
- Consistent, strong team of leaders that are all "talking the
same talk, walking same walk"
- Consistent message delivered to participants (i.e. language
used when teaching, names of moves)
- High standard of leadership
- Mentorship program to coach new instructors so they gain
confidence and experience necessary to teach in the regular
schedule
- Coaching participants to take a leadership role in welcoming
new instructors and nurturing their ongoing growth and
development
- Making a commitment to host events on a regular basis
according to plan to keep both leaders and participants excited
- Minimize the complaints from participants (re: substitution
and/or quality of instructors, team supporting each other)
- Promote the standard of qualification: using both the CALA
and Facility Logo; associating the quality of the event with the
facility who is hosting and the Trainers who are teaching!
- Moving from a reactive to a proactive mode of training and
building your team
- Ensuring a solid plan of action with events scheduled on a
quarterly basis
CALA Certified Leaders Building a Centre of
Excellence in Peterborough
Our CALA Training
Experience
By Katie Zatorski & Andra Hughes
Katie
and I are proud employees of AON. AON owns and operates (among many
other venues) 4 retirement homes in Peterborough Ontario. With the
addition of their newest building, Canterbury Gardens, which opened
in January 2009, Katie and I found ourselves with the luxury of
having a 94 degrees F., therapeutic, salt water pool at our
disposal.
Katie is the Activity
Director at Canterbury Gardens, and I am the Wellness Coordinator
for the 4 AON retirement homes. Even Katie with her extensive
recreation background, and myself with years of land fitness
training, we had found ourselves challenged with something that was
totally new and different. How to keep retired, older adults, safe,
enthused, motivated, fit and did I mention safe…in this wonderful
setting.
Over the past years, both
our comfort level and skill level has dramatically increased, thanks
to the training we have undergone with CALA Inc.. We are 100%
confident that our Gardens of Peterborough retired residents, are
getting the best aquatic fitness leadership around.
Our CALA journey began in
May of 2011 when we travelled to Ottawa on a Sunday afternoon to
join Dylan for an afternoon Aqua Arthritis Workshop. We had both
been leading various aquatic classes on a daily basis, but were
interested in this workshop as a very high percentage of our
residents are dealing with one form of arthritis or another. We
were so impressed at how many new skills we were able to learn and
take back to Peterborough, just from this one workshop. The
residents were also excited to change up some of their existing
favourite aquatic programs. Our next step was, of course, the CALA
Foundations of Vertical Water Training, that we were able to take
shortly after in June. This very in depth, weekend long course,
gave us more understanding of all of the characteristics of water
movement, and why it is one of the best ways to help our residents
include physical activity in their routine… even with limitations on
the land!
Because of the population
we work with every day, Healing Waters: Aquatic Post Rehabilitation
was the logical next step, in the CALA training process. In
February of 2012, we successfully completed the Healing Waters
course, including the practical assessment and theory exams. The
Healing Waters program, gave Katie and I the specific knowledge to
know how to challenge a resident with COPD or arthritis, while
keeping someone who is just recovering from heart surgery safe….all
in the same class! We now have the confidence, to design, and
implement a variety of safe and effective aquatic programs to our
residents every day. Whether through a Gentle Aqua Fit, Aqua-cise
or Aqua Yoga class, our residents are being challenged, having fun
and experiencing all of the many benefits of the warm water. Many
older adults in our community have chosen to stay at Canterbury
Gardens to experience the benefits of aquatic exercise, while they
recover from a fall or from surgery. We also welcome other AON
residents from the Princess, the Empress and Royal Gardens to our
aqua therapy program. The social interaction amongst the
participants before and after each CALA class is palpable. We
absolutely love it. The CALA philosophy of “encouraging the mind to
discover, the body to move and the spirit to soar” is alive and well
at our therapy pool.
It is so amazing to be able
to learn, and implement skills that will help people have a better
quality of life. To see a person get out of a wheel chair, get into
the pool, and have the freedom they did not have on land, is a truly
spectacular thing.
We are proud to be members
of CALA Inc.. Proud of the education and skills we have developed
through their training, and very excited to be able to experience
our first CALA conference in the months to come!
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