A Tribute to The Academy’s “Founding Father” – by Stew Pruslin, M.Ed

Mike Burg – circa 2010 I want to take a moment of your time here to pass along the news that a gentleman by the name of Sumner “Mike” Burg passed away on Thursday of last week at the age of 98. The odds are almost 100% that you have no idea who he was. You certainly never met him […]

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Thank you, Gary Steinberg

There are some big changes coming at Academy MetroWest. The biggest is the impending retirement of our co-director and co-founder, Gary Steinberg. Gary’s career with the Academy started in the late 60’s. His uncle founded the Academy back in the 1950s as a self-defense program for children. It shifted its focus over the years to concentrate on cooperative physical activity […]

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Problem Solving Games…Just in Time for the the Holiday Gift Giving Season

For 21 years, Academy MetroWest has run therapeutic groups for children and adolescents that center on the use of cooperative, collaborative physical activity. Aside from the therapeutic benefits obtained through working this way, it’s an enjoyable way to structure physical activities for kids. Over the last few years, I’ve been happy to find more and more video games and board […]

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May We Find Life So Precious….

As a species, we humans are decidedly a mixed bag. Interactions with other people elicit emotions ranging from rage to indifference to joy. For most of us, the frustration inherent in everyday communication can be looked upon as a minor irritant – the cost of doing business. For other people, those annoyances are deal breakers. They see other humans  as means to an end at best and […]

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Of Big Mats and Longevity – 20 Years of Academy MetroWest

A confluence of two seemingly unrelated events made this week a momentous one for us here at Academy MetroWest. This past Tuesday, we finished up our school year program. It marked the end of our 20th year running weekly social skills groups. We start our summer program on June 23rd so, technically, we have to get through the next 7 weeks […]

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Quirky Couture

For many years, I’ve maintained (only half facetiously) that the best part of my job is that I’m able to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work. While I have no problem with wearing nicer outfits, comfort is a big deal for me when considering my wardrobe. In my work with kids, I spend lots of time chasing kids around, […]

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Less Fun Than Vacuuming? Really?

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to NPR on the way home from work and heard a piece that has been lodged firmly in my brain since then. In the segment, Melissa Block interviewed Jennifer Senior, a contributing editor for New York magazine, about her new book about parenting entitled All Joy and No Fun. According to Ms. Senior, the book set […]

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Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog

Academy MetroWest uses cooperative, non-competitive physical activity as a vehicle to help kids see themselves in a more positive light and to interact better with their peers. While there’s more to any improvements in social skills and self-image than playing a bunch of games with other kids, using games that bring the focus away from kids vs. kids competition is our […]

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Cooperative Play Rules! (Not That I’m At All Biased)

In the work that we do at Academy MetroWest, we run gym-based groups that center on  cooperative, non-competitive physical activity, aimed at helping kids feel better about themselves and improve the way they interact with others. Groups of up to 6 kids participate in weekly 75 minute groups. In basing our groups around cooperative activities, we create a low stress […]

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It Will Never Stop Being a Struggle – But It Will Get Better

Back in December, Academy MetroWest hosted a parent workshop called Young Adulthood – Looking Forward, Looking Back. It featured 3 Academy MetroWest alumni, now in their early or mid 20’s, reflecting on the struggles they faced during their school years and the challenges they face now. This is our 3rd year of presenting parent workshops and we’ve had some good ones. […]

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