By Mike Hutchens
Union City Schools Communications Director
The offseason doesn’t mean teaching lessons are over for Chelsea Farmer and the Union City Middle School softball program.
More accurately, it’s a time for giving back.
Lady Tornado team members and coaching staff have visited Union City Nursing and Rehabilitation Center weekly this spring and summer as a part of a community service project designed to benefit all parties.
The girls have participated in a number of activities while interacting and building relationships with residents, including board games, painting fingernails and jewelry making. The team has also worked in the facility’s flower beds, filled bird feeders and helped sort inventory at the facility.
One player even worked on 30 hand-made cards to give to some of the residents.
The activity was the idea of Farmer, who’ll begin her second season at UCMS this year and is an assistant coach for the high school program.
“I just thought a lot about the values I had as a teacher and I wanted to carry those over to how I coached,” she said Wednesday, while overseeing the festivities. “Last year was my first year in Union City, but it became apparent quickly how much the people here care about their school system and how passionate they are.
“I wanted our girls to give back and get involved. If we say we value our community we have to act on it. If we’re not showing them, we’re not letting them know how much we appreciate them and how important they are to us.”
Farmer, who lauded assistant coach Chris Palmer for his efforts in the project as well as UCNRC administrator Donna Taylor for her welcoming the group, said she is attempting to instill three main values with the players in their program — commitment, character and community.
The 19-member squad has three different practice jerseys, each with one of those “values” printed on the front. They’ve sacrificed Wednesday practices to make their visits a regular occurrence.
“Big picture-wise, this is so important to me and that’s why we’re giving up a day of practice for it,” the coach said. “Seeing the elderly here and how they react to the girls and how the girls react to them has been priceless.
“The residents are so excited to see us and to sit back and watch them form relationships with each other has been awesome to watch for me as a young adult and their coach.”
Rising eighth-grader Emma Powell said the experience has been one that’s made her “feel good.”
“It’s really fun to come and visit and see them (the residents) smile and bring them a little bit of joy. We’ve learned their names. … It’s been like making new friends. That’s made me feel good. I think we’ve all learned individually in addition to learning as a team how to give to other people.”
The off-the-field lessons learned are ones Farmer believes are more important than wins, hits or RBI.
“I just believe the earlier you teach and train them to give back, the more likely it is that it becomes a part of them and who they are,” she claimed. “It’s easy to get caught up in how busy life is, but I really thought it was important to make time for this.
“This is an example of what sets Union City schools apart. Not being from here, I’ve just been amazed by what the community has done for our students. Even the businesses are accommodating of kids and teachers when they have to have late appointments and such.
“I believe everybody values what can happen when you have a great school system in place. And this is just mine and the girls’ attempt to give back a little bit.”
Mike Hutchens photo
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