Movin’ and Groovin’ at The Phoenix at Lake Joy

Years ago when Susan Carpenter and Cheryl Magerkurth served together as public school teachers, they had no idea that their paths would cross again; this time, to enrich and empower the lives of Houston County residents of an entirely different generation.

“We taught at Matt Arthur Elementary School in the same classroom,” Carpenter reminisced. “I was the Special Education teacher and Cheryl was the General Ed teacher. We go way back, but as the years passed, we’d lost contact with each other. We both retired, but she went back to work part-time. This past summer,” Carpenter continued, “we reconnected over cups of coffee, and I found out Cheryl was doing some a therapeutic-type exercise program at another facility. My mother is here [The Phoenix at Lake Joy] and I thought it was such a good idea that I considered doing something similar here. But I don’t have the physical education background that Cheryl does, so I wasn’t sure how to do the activity safely, so to speak. When I mentioned it to her, she said, ‘Well, hey… let’s work together again. Let’s do it together!’ That’s how we got started.”

The activity that Carpenter referenced is a unique therapeutic-type exercise program that is appropriately called “Move & Groove,” and it’s specialized for seniors who are in assisted living facilities. Its aim is to give the older individuals a complete workout of the mind, body, and spirit. Using music from an era to which most senior citizens can relate, the women use modified dance and exercise movements to create fun and interactive workouts that their target audience of participants can embrace and enjoy.

“After being a classroom teacher for 12 years, I became a Physical Ed teacher,” Magerkurth said. “I love physical activity, and it’s so important to our quality of life that we take care of ourselves and remain active; not only for our physical fitness, but for our mental fitness.” Magerkurth said this is a big part of their purpose for doing what they do. “We’re certainly here to get them moving, but the biggest, greatest, and most rewarding part of it is the joy that it brings to them and how it stimulates the endorphins and chemicals in their bodies that make them feel good. It’s rewarding to see them laughing, happy and smiling.”

October of 2019 was the first month that the ladies brought Move & Groove to The Phoenix at Lake Joy, and based upon attendance and interaction, Carpenter said the folks at the facility love it. “It’s voluntary,” she said, “so they come because they want to, not because they have to.”

Pointing at the chairs that they’d set up in the open floor area, Magarkurth smiled and said, “Almost all of these chairs will be filled. Sometimes we have more people than others, but they always come.” As former primary school teachers, the women know how to bring fun in to a classroom. “We’ve been doing themes for the holidays,” Magarkurth explained. “We did something special for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in January, we did kind of a Winter Wonderland theme.” Laughing, she added, “We had a snowball fight.”

At Wednesday’s gathering, Magerkurth and Carpenter wore pink and red tops respectively, and they wore red heart-shaped head boppers. In preparation of the residents’ arrival in the room, the women pulled out red paper plates, prepared pink and red flowers and blew up pink, white, and red heart-shaped balloons that would be used as a part of the day’s activities. Valentine’s Day was clearly the theme of the afternoon.

“The residents really seem to enjoy coming together for this,” Carpenter stated. “We have some who come from the assistant living side, but we’ll also bring some over from the memory care side. They really get involved, and sometimes it’s quite hilarious to watch them.”

“We just have a hoot,” Magerkurth added in agreement. “I mean we just crack up sometimes because we’re having so much fun with them.”

Evidence of the residents’ enjoyment could be seen on their faces as the class got underway. Range-of-motion and coordination skills were among those put to the test all while having fun. While most of the participants remained seated for the session, they clapped their hands, performed upper body dance movements, did leg lifts, waved their arms in the air and from side to side, tossed balloons to each other and at their workshop leaders; used their hands to beat on makeshift drums and to toss spongy balls into boxes, and on occasions, some even stood and danced to the groove of the music along with Magerkurth and Carpenter. A few of the caretakers of the facility dropped by and joined in the festivities. Among them was Michelle Sluka, the Programming & Outreach Activities Director of Phoenix at Lake Joy.

“I absolute love this,” she exclaimed. “It’s so wonderful for our residents’ physical health, their emotional health and their social wellbeing. It really hits on all of the dimensions of their wellness.” Sluka further noted, “You can just see a total transformation when they come and participate in this program. It’s been such a great addition to our monthly calendar.” Pointing toward the Move & Groove facilitators, Sluka said, “Those ladies—I can’t say enough about them. They come and they bring such high energy every month, and the residents just seem to love them. I wish we could have them come more than once a month.”

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