New activities coordinator for Glen Cove Senior Center

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Last week, the Glen Cove Senior Center welcomed with open arms Eric Shuman, the new activities coordinator.

Shuman, 36, moved to Glen Cove with his family seven years ago. The home the couple bought was the first one they looked at when house-hunting on the North Shore. Shuman said no other place compared to the Glen Cove home. “We knew this was the right one,” he said.

Shuman believes his background as a physical education teacher and program director for 15 years in the Great Neck School District will be an asset at his new job. Additionally he’s been a director at Camp Hillel in Lawrence, where he did program scheduling and hiring.

And Shuman likes senior centers. His late grandmother, Hazel, who was very active in her senior community in Florida, would tell him about the many different clubs and activities that she enjoyed while there. “When this [the job opportunity in Glen Cove] came up, I thought about her quite a bit,” Shuman said. “Based on all my experiences of programming and being a director and working with children of different ages, I was thinking that it would be very similar to work with the seniors.”

The expectation for Shuman was to be a teacher because all of the members of his family are educators. His parents, Barry and Mary taught in the Great Neck School District for over 40 years; sister, Katie, is an elementary school teacher in Ohio; and his brother, Stuart, is a new recruit teacher for the Rochester Police Department.

“It was truly inspiring how they touched these children and how they impacted their lives,” Shuman said, referring to his parents.

He knew physical education was something he would enjoy because he was an athlete and enjoyed fun and friendly competition.

To Shuman, teaching physical education is more than explaining how to play a sport or game, it is about teaching someone to love a sport or activity, which they can carry with them throughout their life. “I enjoyed that phys. ed. can teach you discipline, how to win and lose gracefully,” said Shuman. “All very important things you need to learn in life.”

With his background in physical education, Shuman hopes to incorporate more physical activities into the center, including a bocce court, an indoor putting green and the game of pickleball, which he brought to Cove Sports Academy and Stanco Park.

Shuman also has plans to take more trips outside of the community, work more with other senior centers and explore the possibility of expanding by adding evening activities. He is also looking for ideas from members. “I can’t wait to see what their interests are and what they want to do,” Shuman said. “I want to see if I can help them with those ideas and bring them to fruition.”