Teaching at the YMCA by Margaret Olmsted ~ (Jan 2019)

Teaching at the YMCA

 by Margaret Olmsted, January 2019

`This past spring I started teaching at the YMCA. I first had to go through an application process that almost drove me away but I bravely stuck it out and started teaching. And I’m very glad I did.

The bad news:

• The classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 am and Saturdays at 9 am. Some mornings that feels very early.
• I only get $20/class.
• The students are almost all senior citizens.
• People come to the Y to exercise and try tai chi. They don’t come to learn tai chi. So most never practice and therefore most don’t remember it.
• Every class someone new shows up so I almost always end up reviewing from the beginning (which is good for everyone) and the pace is very slow.
• An evening qigong class never had more than 3 students so I dropped it after 2 months.

• They only pay one teacher so there is no team teaching. A second apprentice can come as a guest and help teach a few times but then either has to get hired or become a member.

The good news:

• The Y does all the promoting and all I have to do is show up.
• The Y has been very flexible with my schedule. They hired a second teacher who covers for me when I travel.
• I ended up with a great core group that really enjoys learning tai chi and comes 2-3x/week.
• It took months, but now I have 2 classes working on the form up to single whip and one that has started the second third.
• This fall I started getting some younger students and planted the seeds that they could learn how to teach and several were very interested.
• I created a video of the first third to help with practice and put it on Vimeo. A few people use it. Let me know if you want it.
• They love our style of teaching.
• Classes are about 50 minutes and I found that doing a lot of TYB and Walking on Thin Ice in the beginning is helpful to teach principles.
• Several of them have expressed interest in attending a summer training.
• A free membership comes with teaching at the Y and that includes classes and use of the pool, etc.
• Having been hired at the YMCA, I can teach at any YMCA.

Conclusion:

• It’s not a lot of money but I hate promoting classes and I enjoy teaching so it works for me. And teaching has always been about service anyway.
• It has become a great place to find a few proficient students aged 20-40.
• If you are looking for more opportunities to teach and not have to deal with rent and promo, consider teaching at your local YMCA!