Ostler becomes wellness facilitator for 2011

For Jo Lyn Ostler, helping people win the battle of physical health is her life. She ran the Waterbury Recreation Department for 20 years and even owns her own private practice for recreation and physical consulting.

But her physical health was important to her as well and other places had something missing. She found her calling at Norwich University, where she loved the environment and the people she met. She worked out regularly with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeff Kruger and his assistant at the time, Sgt. Maj. Bell.

As time went by, she struck up friendships with Kruger and Bell. When Ostler heard that Bell was moving into recruiting, she quickly applied for the job of assistant strength and conditioning coach.

When Ostler got the job, she did not stop with just being a strength coach. She began teaching classes and became involved with the physical resources available for staff members.

Ostler's influence was so great that she has added another title to her list. Last month, she was elected by the Wellness Committee to be Norwich's wellness facilitator for 2011.

The Wellness Committee is run by a group of staff and faculty members that put together fitness programs for their colleagues. As the facilitator, Ostler will serve as the person overseeing the whole operation.

But being the facilitator doesn't mean that she will simply organize meetings and events. Ostler wants to do much more than that. She wants to expand the program by creating more options that can be available to all staff, faculty and hopefully students.

"My goal is to have a constant selection (fitness classes and resources), not just one thing happening but many things happening at a time," Ostler said. "Because what might be fitness or wellness for you may not be for me."

Norwich offers a variety of programs. There is water aerobics and calisthenics, personal fitness challenge, and some upcoming ones including yoga and Founder's Day. But these are not quite enough to satisfy Ostler. She is really hoping for a wider range of choices.

"What my intention is is to have a constant rolling calendar of events so that people can have all kinds of things that might suit their physical needs," Ostler said. "All the way from having mini workshops, speakers, (and) to consultations."

She also hopes to make programs available to more people. As of now, the wellness resources are available only to staff and faculty. However, if there are not enough staff and faculty to fill the classes, they can be opened up to students.

Ostler is working with the funding personnel in hopes of getting funding for students. Nothing is set in stone as of right now but it is something that Ostler hopes to change.

"We (The Wellness Committee) are working on getting funding for students," Ostler said. "That being said I do regularly volunteer my time outside of my schedule to work with injured athletes."

So even though students can't be actively a part of the program, Ostler still goes out of her way to work with and help students.

But Ostler wants the students to be a part of the program. So much so, that she even has had thoughts of students being possible coaches in the future.

"We haven't had students, recently, involved," Ostler said.  "Once we do, it makes it a little easier to merge the two pieces of faculty, staff, and student athlete together."

One thing that they are doing right now is allowing students to be the coaches at the fitness challenge. The students are overseen by Ostler and Jeff Kruger but they are the ones acting as the coaches.

"This is how we can collaborate and it's great because they are also getting their personal training certification or they already have it," Ostler said. "So this is a win-win situation and these are the kind of things that we can do right now. We can invite them in to get experience and credit."

In addition to Ostler's planning and activities, she also writes a monthly newsletter. The newsletter focuses on themes of multi-dimensional wellness and also lets people know what's coming up in that month. She provides links for people to do additional research on wellness.

"A monthly news article will hopefully keep people looking for information," Ostler said. "It will not only have various views on what to think about but just to invite them to think about wellness."

Ostler has many challenges ahead of her in growing the program but she has made drastic steps to make it happen. Her biggest concern is gaining the trust of the people within the programs.

"What I hope for is patience and trust and what people will see is that we are not just putting out great ideas but we are following through," Ostler said. "I think that's the key of being the facilitator is if I say I will be there tomorrow at noon, I will be there tomorrow at noon."

For Jo Lyn Ostler, helping people win the battle of physical health is her life. She ran the Waterbury Recreation Department for 20 years and even owns her own private practice for recreation and physical consulting.

But her physical health was important to her as well and other places had something missing. She found her calling at Norwich University, where she loved the environment and the people she met. She worked out regularly with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeff Kruger and his assistant at the time, Sgt. Maj. Bell.

As time went by, she struck up friendships with Kruger and Bell. When Ostler heard that Bell was moving into recruiting, she quickly applied for the job of assistant strength and conditioning coach.

When Ostler got the job, she did not stop with just being a strength coach. She began teaching classes and became involved with the physical resources available for staff members.

Ostler's influence was so great that she has added another title to her list. Last month, she was elected by the Wellness Committee to be Norwich's wellness facilitator for 2011.

The Wellness Committee is run by a group of staff and faculty members that put together fitness programs for their colleagues. As the facilitator, Ostler will serve as the person overseeing the whole operation.

But being the facilitator doesn't mean that she will simply organize meetings and events. Ostler wants to do much more than that. She wants to expand the program by creating more options that can be available to all staff, faculty and hopefully students.

"My goal is to have a constant selection (fitness classes and resources), not just one thing happening but many things happening at a time," Ostler said. "Because what might be fitness or wellness for you may not be for me."

Norwich offers a variety of programs. There is water aerobics and calisthenics, personal fitness challenge, and some upcoming ones including yoga and Founder's Day. But these are not quite enough to satisfy Ostler. She is really hoping for a wider range of choices.

"What my intention is is to have a constant rolling calendar of events so that people can have all kinds of things that might suit their physical needs," Ostler said. "All the way from having mini workshops, speakers, (and) to consultations."

She also hopes to make programs available to more people. As of now, the wellness resources are available only to staff and faculty. However, if there are not enough staff and faculty to fill the classes, they can be opened up to students.

Ostler is working with the funding personnel in hopes of getting funding for students. Nothing is set in stone as of right now but it is something that Ostler hopes to change.

"We (The Wellness Committee) are working on getting funding for students," Ostler said. "That being said I do regularly volunteer my time outside of my schedule to work with injured athletes."

So even though students can't be actively a part of the program, Ostler still goes out of her way to work with and help students.

But Ostler wants the students to be a part of the program. So much so, that she even has had thoughts of students being possible coaches in the future.

"We haven't had students, recently, involved," Ostler said.  "Once we do, it makes it a little easier to merge the two pieces of faculty, staff, and student athlete together."

One thing that they are doing right now is allowing students to be the coaches at the fitness challenge. The students are overseen by Ostler and Jeff Kruger but they are the ones acting as the coaches.

"This is how we can collaborate and it's great because they are also getting their personal training certification or they already have it," Ostler said. "So this is a win-win situation and these are the kind of things that we can do right now. We can invite them in to get experience and credit."

In addition to Ostler's planning and activities, she also writes a monthly newsletter. The newsletter focuses on themes of multi-dimensional wellness and also lets people know what's coming up in that month. She provides links for people to do additional research on wellness.

"A monthly news article will hopefully keep people looking for information," Ostler said. "It will not only have various views on what to think about but just to invite them to think about wellness."

Ostler has many challenges ahead of her in growing the program but she has made drastic steps to make it happen. Her biggest concern is gaining the trust of the people within the programs.

"What I hope for is patience and trust and what people will see is that we are not just putting out great ideas but we are following through," Ostler said. "I think that's the key of being the facilitator is if I say I will be there tomorrow at noon, I will be there tomorrow at noon."