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Date of Issue/Date de publication :
April/avril 2004
PHYSICAL & HEALTH
EDUCATION JOURNAL
VOLUME
70, N O .2
ISSN 1498-0940
FEATURES / ARTICLES VEDETTES
4
14
Health Promoting Schools –
a Community Effort
By Dr. Andy Anderson
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Publications Mail Registration no. 9328. Views and opinions are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of CAHPERD. Indexed in the Canadian Magazine
index and available on-line in the Canadian Business and Current Affairs Database.
Upon application to CAHPERD, Canadian universities will be allowed to duplicate
CAHPERD Journal articles for distribution to students.
Courrier 2e classe no. 9328. Les opinions exprimées sont celles des auteures
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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government
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toward our mailing costs.
Board of Directors 2003/2004
Conseil de direction 2003/2004
A Student Driven, Service –
Based High School
Leadership Program
By Dee Anne S. Vonde
REGULARS / CHRONIQUES
2 A Word from the President
3 Mot du président
30 CAHPERD Health Resources
40 Clip and Copy
42 À découper
IN THIS ISSUE / DANS CE NUMÉRO
Nick Forsberg, President / Président
Garth Turtle, President-Elect / Président-élu
Harry Hubball, British Columbia & Yukon /
Colombie-Britanique et Yukon
Deanna Binder, Alberta & NT / Alberta et NT
Lyle Brenna, Saskatchewan Representative /
Représentant de la Saskatchewan
Grant McManes, Manitoba & Nunavut / Manitoba et Nunavut
James Mandigo, Ontario / Ontario
Charlotte Beaudoin, Québec / Québec
Fran Harris, New Brunswick / Nouveau-Brunswick
Leta Totten, Nova Scotia / Nouvelle-Écosse
Ray Brushett, Newfoundland / Terre Neuve
John Munro, Prince Edward Island / Île-du-Prince-Édouard
for an Active Healthy School
9 Principles
Community
Valley Health Promoting
18 Annapolis
School Project
23 The Vancouver Island Race
Health Committees: Making
27 School
“Healthy Schools” Happen
32 teachingsexualhealth.ca - A New Resource
34 À l’école Le Trillium, ça marche!
36 Going International – Right To Play
44 Positively Powerful!
Children’s Advertisers –
46 Concerned
Community Approach to School Health
48 Healthy School Profiles
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
1
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
Making a Difference: A Shared Responsibility
T
his special issue of the PHE Journal focussing on “health-promoting schools” is timely given the realities
we are faced with in education and society today. Health-promoting schools create health by enabling
young people to care for themselves and others, to help them make decisions and have control over their
health and life circumstances, and to ensure that the society in which they live creates the attainment of health
by all of its members. Health-promoting schools not only realize the need for a symbiotic relationship of school
and community but, more importantly, the need to continually nurture the relationship. The extent to which
a nation’s schools become “health-promoting schools” will play a significant role in determining the well-being
of the next generation.
CAHPERD is making many efforts to increase awareness of the need for health promoting schools by
advocating and promoting comprehensive, holistic approaches and by providing the tools that educators and
communities need to make them happen – in fact, this is the basis of our Quality School Health (QSH)
initiative. Clearly, QSH is making a difference in the number of school
communities that are adopting the health promoting schools approach.
As educators we are key to this process. I believe that each of us must also
look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of each day and ask: “Did I
make a difference in the life of a learner today?” CAHPERD works
through a similar exercise given that our primary mission is to “influence
the healthy development of children and youth by advocating for quality,
school-based physical and health education.”
This special issue of the PHE Journal portrays health promotion as a way
to improve student learning, improve school effectiveness, and enrich
community life. Health promotion is an opportunity to build critical
thinking skills, encourage leadership at school and in the community,
foster a deeper sense of shared effort, and to redefine oneself in terms of
achievement and accomplishments, dignity and hope instead of despair
and problems. Health promotion is indeed a resource, a way to renew,
revitalize and rejuvenate efforts to provide young people with
opportunities for them to reach their potential through acts of ‘care actor’.
It is also an effective way to demonstrate to children the power they have
in making a difference in the lives of others.
As my term as CAHPERD President comes to a close and I write my last
President’s Message I am drawn to a reflective moment and in particular
a quote by Aldous Huxley,
“Experience is not what happens to a person,
It is what a person does with what happens.”
These words have resonated with me for close to twenty years. During
this time, I have come to learn that the real essence of “experience” lies
not in the present encounter, but rather in what an individual does in the
future as a result of the encounter. Understanding “experience” in this
fashion compels me to realize that inherent in “experience” is a
responsibility; a responsibility to do something more; a responsibility to
make a difference later. As I close the chapter on being President, I
welcome the work associated with being Past-President and my
professional work beyond that. I will ensure that I make a difference by
continuing to assume a proactive role in advocating and promoting
2
PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION
healthy, active lifestyles for all children and youth. For I believe it is only
through understanding “experience” in this context that I will really come
to know the “experience” of my being President of CAHPERD.
The opportunity to serve the profession in this capacity has been truly
rewarding. Whether it is at Board of Directors, Council of Provinces/
Territories, Council of University Professors and Researchers, or Program
Advisory Committee meetings, I consider myself privileged to have had
the opportunity to work with some of the most caring, passionate and
dedicated individuals in our profession. They are volunteers who believe
in CAHPERD’s mission, and work hard to bring about positive change
to ensure healthy, active lifestyles for all children and youth. The same
can be said about the national office staff under the very capable
leadership of our Executive Director - Guy Tanguay. They are truly
remarkable people, who set high standards, possess the skills and abilities
to obtain these standards, and embody the essence of commitment. The
association is very fortunate to have them in our fold. You have all made
a difference. I am a better person for having known all of you.
The work associated with being President does not come without a price. It
has demanded time away from my family and my work at the university. I
can recall being absent from family functions, school field trips, and sporting
events. I am indebted to my wife Kelly and our children Nakia, Joshua and
Kieran for their support and understanding. From the heart I say, “THANKYOU”. I am also grateful to the administration in the Faculty of Education
at the University of Regina for valuing my professional contribution to
CAHPERD and to the lives of Canadian children and youth.
As I stated in my first President’s Message, the future for CAHPERD is
exciting and promises to be full of possibilities. We must continue to work
collaboratively and strategically but above all with passion and seize the
opportunity to make a difference. I look forward to working with Garth
Turtle as he assumes the role of President and will support him in any way
possible as he brings life to CAHPERD’s raison d’etre. As always, I welcome
your thoughts and ideas and encourage you to contact me at any time.
Nick Forsberg, CAHPERD President
[email protected]
M O T D U P R É S I D ENT
Faire une différence : Un projet commun
C
e numéro spécial du Journal de l’éducation physique et l’éducation à la santé consacré aux écoles « axées sur la promotion de la santé » vient à point, compte tenu
des enjeux éducationnels et sociétaux qui nous confrontent actuellement. Les écoles axées sur la santé sont des écoles qui favorisent la santé en encourageant les
élèves à s’occuper d’eux-mêmes et des autres, à poser des gestes éclairés et à prendre en charge leur santé et leurs circonstances de vie, et en favorisant des milieux
de vie qui permettent à tous d’aspirer à la santé. En plus de faciliter une relation symbiotique entre l’école et la collectivité, les écoles vouées à la promotion de la santé
s’efforcent sans cesse de renforcer ce lien. De fait, le bien-être de la prochaine génération tient, dans une large mesure, à l’aptitude des écoles canadiennes à bien jouer
leur rôle de « promoteurs de la santé ».
L’ACSEPLD investit beaucoup d’efforts en vue de sensibiliser la population à
l’importance de se doter d’écoles pleinement axées sur la promotion de la santé.
En ce sens, elle encourage le recours à des approches holistiques globales et fournit
au personnel enseignant et aux collectivités des outils utiles pour concrétiser cet
objectif. Ces efforts sont à la base même de notre projet de Santé de qualité dans
les écoles (SQE), qui a fait une réelle différence en incitant un plus grand nombre
de collectivités scolaires à promouvoir la santé dans les écoles. En tant
qu’éducateurs et qu’éducatrices, il faut constamment nous demander si nous avons
réussi à faire une différence dans la vie des élèves. L’ACSEPLD se pose sans cesse
la même question, d’autant plus que notre mission consiste à « promouvoir et
revendiquer l'exécution de programmes d'éducation physique et d'éducation à la
santé au sein de milieux scolaires et communautaires propices ».
Les auteurs de ce numéro spécial du Journal de l’éducation physique et l’éducation à
la santé perçoivent la promotion de la santé comme une façon d’améliorer
l’apprentissage des élèves, d’accroître l’efficacité des écoles, d’enrichir la vie
communautaire, de susciter la pensée critique, d’encourager le leadership au sein
des écoles et des collectivités, d’engager les gens à déployer des efforts communs et
de se redéfinir en fonction des réalisations, de la dignité et de l’espoir plutôt que
du désespoir et des difficultés. La promotion de la santé constitue clairement une
ressource, une façon de se renouveler et de rajeunir les efforts engagés pour aider
les jeunes à réaliser leur plein potentiel en posant des gestes actifs. Il s’agit
également d’une façon efficace de démontrer aux enfants qu’ils ont la capacité de
faire une différence dans la vie des autres.
Au terme de mon mandat, alors que j’écris mon dernier message à titre de
président de l’ACSEPLD, je me permets de citer la réflexion suivante de l’auteur
Aldous Huxley,
« l’expérience, ce n’est pas ce qui arrive à quelqu’un,
c’est ce que quelqu’un fait avec ce qui lui arrive »
Ces mots m’obsèdent depuis près de vingt ans. Au fil des ans, j’en suis venu à
conclure que l’essence même de nos « expériences » ne tient pas à ce qui survient
au moment présent mais à ce qu’il en advient au fil des ans. Cette façon de
percevoir une « expérience » m’incite à déduire que cette dernière s’accompagne
nécessairement d’une responsabilité : responsabilité de faire plus; de continuer de
faire une différence par après. Même si je tourne la dernière page du chapitre de
ma vie dédié à la présidence, j’anticipe avec plaisir mes fonctions « d’ancien
président » et les défis professionnels qui m’attendent. J’entends continuer de faire
une différence en étant proactif, en m’efforçant de revendiquer et de promouvoir
des modes de vie sains et actifs au niveau de tous les enfants et adolescents. Plus
que jamais, j’ai la ferme conviction que c’est en interprétant ainsi le concept
« d’expérience » que j’arriverai à « internaliser » mon expérience à titre de président
de l’ACSEPLD.
L’occasion qui m’a été offerte de mettre ma profession au service d’une telle cause
s’est avérée fort enrichissante. Qu’il s’agisse de siéger au sein du conseil
d’administration, du Conseil des provinces et territoires et du Conseil des
professeurs et chercheurs universitaires ou encore, de participer aux réunions des
comités consultatifs des programmes, ce fut un privilège de travailler aux côtés de
collègues aussi attentifs, passionnés, dévoués et compatissants. Ces bénévoles
exceptionnels croient fermement en la mission de l’ACSEPLD et déploient sans
cesse des efforts pour instaurer des changements positifs et pour mettre les enfants
et les jeunes sur la voie d’une vie saine et active. Cette affirmation vaut aussi pour
le personnel du bureau national de l’ACSEPLD sous l’habile et compétente
direction de son directeur général, Guy Tanguay. Ces individus exceptionnels ont
placé très haut la barre. De fait, ils ont les compétences et les habiletés requises pour
atteindre les objectifs très élevés qu’ils se sont fixés et témoignent chaque jour de
leur grand engagement. L’ACSEPLD est très chanceuse de pouvoir compter sur
une équipe de si grande qualité. Chacun et chacune d’entre vous a réussi à faire
une différence. En outre, à vous côtoyer, je suis devenu une meilleure personne
moi aussi.
La fonction de président a aussi son prix. Pour bien accomplir mes tâches, j’ai dû
délaisser quelque peu ma famille et mon travail à l’université. Je me souviens
d’avoir souvent brillé par mon absence lors de fêtes familiales, de sorties scolaires
et d’événements sportifs. En ce sens, je suis fort reconnaissant à mon épouse, Kelly,
et à mes enfants Nakia, Joshua et Kieran, de leur appui sans faille et de leur
compréhension et je tiens à les en REMERCIER du fond du cœur. Je tiens aussi
à rendre hommage à l’administration de la Faculté de l’éducation de l’université de
Regina qui a su valoriser ma contribution professionnelle à la cause de l’ACSEPLD
et au bien-être des jeunes du Canada.
Comme je l’affirmais dans mon premier message du président, l’avenir de
l’ACSEPLD s’annonce palpitant et riche en possibilités de toutes sortes. Nous
devons continuer de collaborer et de travailler stratégiquement en injectant d’une
dose de passion toutes nos actions. Nous devons aussi profiter de toutes les
occasions qui s’offrent de faire une réelle différence. J’aurai grand plaisir à travailler
avec Garth Turtle qui assumera le rôle de président et je l’appuierai de toutes les
façons possibles pour l’aider à enrichir et amplifier la raison d’être de l’ACSEPLD.
Comme toujours, j’accueillerai avec grand plaisir vos commentaires et suggestions.
En ce sens, je vous encourage à me joindre, en tout temps, pour me faire part de
vos observations.
Nick Forsberg, président de l’ACSEPLD
nick.forsberg@uregina.
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
3
Health Promoting
Schools –
a community effort
By Dr. Andy Anderson
A
Health Promoting School is defined as a school that is “constantly strengthening
its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working” (WHO 1997).
The Health Promoting School concept was conceived as a unique way to:
Dr. Andy Anderson is an associate
professor at the Ontario Institute
for Studies / University of Toronto.
His research over the last several
years has focused on the relationship
between health promotion and
school improvement. His latest
international initiative involves the
development of a network of health
promoting schools in the Eastern
Caribbean. The ‘Scotiabank
Champions for Health Promoting
Schools’ will serve as a lighthouse
project throughout the Caribbean
and Central America.
a) Harmonize education and health
b) Build bridges between schools and communities
c) Promote active involvement of students in curricular and school life
d) Integrate health across the curriculum
e) Incorporate health within school culture and governance
f ) Relate health promotion to school improvement plans
Health Promoting Schools (HPS) strive to prepare young people to take better care of
themselves and others by working collaboratively with community partners to
improve the integration of health and educational services; coordinate health
initiatives with school goals, values and mandates; and create school environments that
foster genuine opportunities for students to play active roles in school governance and
program initiatives throughout the school.
The realization of health promotion initiatives in schools brings into focus new
thinking about the relationships, resources, and structures (and their underlying
programs and policies) for raising competent, connected and successful children and
youth. With HPS, young people are considered as resources to be developed, not
problems to be solved. From this perspective, health promotion is a whole-life, schoolwide, community-wide effort to harmonize health and learning.
In particular, HPS afford a wide array of opportunities to build ‘communities’ within
the school, across disciplines of study, and with community partners. Mutual
4
relationships have the potential to
reshape and expand beliefs about
improvements in health and education,
expectations for learning and achievement in schools and beyond, and the
supports needed for health promotion to
function as an integral part of school
reform.
As a resource, health promotion has
much to offer schools, students, and
communities – both in the present and in
the future. A resource, according to the
‘old’ French interpretation, means to
revitalize, renew, or inspire. This issue of
the PHE Journal describes the various
and innovative ways health promotion
can, through community development,
revitalize schools.
Thinking the world together
Health-minded educators acknowledge
the experience of interdependence
expressed as a community – a
community of scholarship (multidisciplinary study of issues), a
community of care providers (multisectoral provision of services and
supports), and a community of truth.
Health promotion – as a community of
truth – involves exploration of the world
from the point of view of multiple
realities, or as Palmer (1998) suggests,
“thinking the world together”.
Health promotion in schools offers students, teachers and community
partners a unique opportunity to develop, as a community, a richer
sense of what can be done to make life better. With health in mind,
the study of subject matter is enlivened, school culture is nurtured as
a critical part of students’ educational experience, and community
partners (the entire staff, care/service providers) work hand-in-hand
to optimize opportunities for learning. In this article, the notion of
‘community’ is presented as a way to integrate health promotion into
the school/learner development process.
Health issues offer robust opportunities
to interpret topics of current interest and
debate such as legalization of marijuana,
vending machines in schools, or bullying
from a multi-disciplinary perspective
(Anderson 1999). Accordingly, students
engage in the study of subject matter
(e.g., science, mathematics, media
studies) as part of ‘collective’ efforts to
make sense of the world. The debate
about marijuana use from a scientific
perspective will render different views
from those who observe the issue as an
economic opportunity. Examined
historically and across different cultures,
marijuana use yields yet another story.
Using cross-curricular methods to
La promotion de la santé en milieu scolaire donne aux élèves, au
personnel enseignant et aux partenaires communautaires l’occasion
unique de découvrir ensemble les mesures à poser pour rehausser sa
qualité de vie. Lorsqu’on prend en compte les questions de santé, l’étude
des matières scolaires devient plus dynamique, la culture de l’école
s’enrichit pour devenir partie intégrante de l’expérience pédagogique des
élèves et les partenaires communautaires (l’ensemble du personnel et des
fournisseurs de services et de soins) travaillent main dans la main pour
optimiser les possibilités d’apprentissage des jeunes. Dans cet article, on
a recours au concept de « communauté » pour intégrer la promotion de
la santé au processus de développement de l’école et de l’apprenant.
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
5
explain, describe and express insights and
interpretations offers students a wide
array of choices for ‘knowing
and showing what they know’ about
the topic.
Building bridges between academic text
and real life dilemmas enables students to
deploy subject matter knowledge as part
of an inquiry process and as a way to
incorporate the meaningfulness of these
experiences (e.g., links between feelings
of shame, anxiety, hopelessness and
destructive and anti-social behaviours).
Validating the subjectiveness of youth
encounters with the world makes the
‘small – big’, and their intimate lives a
matter of interest and importance within
academic study. Under these conditions,
students reflect on and value insights and
experience as a way to actively participate
in the construction of knowledge.
A constructivist view can be distinguished by means of its implications for a
qualitative change in the learner - ‘rather
than a quantitative change in the amount
of knowledge someone possesses’. The
qualitative change is in the understanding that the learner constructs.
Personal understanding and knowledge
occur within a set of guidelines embodied
within the discipline; however, thinking
does not exist separately from what
learners make of it. Similarly, Eisner
(1991) promotes the notion that humans
6
do not simply have experience; they have
a hand in its creation and the quality of
their creation depends upon the ways
they employ their minds. On this view,
the meaning that a learner constructs is
an element that has been selected out of
larger possibilities and, in this sense,
education can be regarded as ‘a mindmaking experience’ (Eisner, 1991) - or
perhaps more accurately, a ‘mindmaking’ opportunity.
Health-minded teachers look for
opportunities to relate the study of
subject matter to the lives of their
students. In this way, the subject matter is
enlivened because it is meaningful and
applicable to students’ lives beyond
school. The more connected students feel
to the content and the ways it contributes
to their daily lives, the more likely they
are to feel their lives are taken seriously.
For example, game/play literate students
know how to play (can demonstrate the
mechanics and tactics of game play)
and how to manage the conditions
that interact with their day-to-day
opportunities to play. Activity literate
students read the world or realities with
which they are expected to contend to
create time and places for play at home,
in the neighbourhood, and at school.
Globalization of subject
matter study
Education about health focuses on the
attainment of key health concepts, skills,
and bodies of knowledge particular to the
study of health as a distinct field of study.
Education through health addresses the
development of the personal, social, and
intellectual competencies associated with
making judgements about the choices
and chances people have to lead healthy
active lives. Said differently, through the
study of health, educators feature the
development of habits of mind associated
with participation in a democratic society
(e.g., inclusionary practices which
include respect for alternative ideas,
beliefs, and values; active listening/
observation for a more complete
understanding of how others experience/
participate in the world; link cultural
diversity with asset development).
Through the study of health, students are
better equipped to reason practically and
reflect critically on their own beliefs and
behaviours. Wolfgang (2001) argues:
People who have sufficiently
developed the capacity for formal
operational thinking are able to
reason in the abstract, can be
objective about their own subjective
thoughts, and are aware that
when seeking solutions to problems
they need to explore alternative
possibilities that are not solely based
on lived experience. (p.7)
In this way, Wolfgang proposes, students
foster a deeper sense of affiliation that is
dependent on,
…shared values and empathetic
understanding of others’ orientations
to meaning. People who have
sufficiently realised the capacity for
affiliation would have mutually
satisfying reciprocal interactions and
attachments with others and,
consequently, would experience a sense
of belonging and [would] feel socially
supported. They would also be in a
position to create a socially valued
identity through, for example, being
involved in socially valued decision
making. This, in turn, promotes the
development of characteristics such as
self-esteem. This statement recognises
that characteristics such as self-esteem
are socially constructed, rather than
solely derived from the individual.
This interpretation of the realisation
of the capacity for affiliation resonates
with Erikson’s view that a key
developmental task during adolescence focuses on the development of a
well defined sense of identity which
involves defining social roles within
different contexts (Erikson 1968).
Cooper, Grotevant & Condon (1983)
reported that developing a strong sense
of identity is most likely to occur
when self assertion and freedom
(separateness) are encouraged within
an atmosphere of responsiveness to the
needs of others and sensitivity and
respect for others (mutuality). (p.7)
“You pursued learning because this is how you asserted
yourself as a free person; how you claimed your humanity.
You pursued learning so you could work for social uplift, for
the liberation of your people. You pursued education so you
could prepare yourself to lead your people.”
Theresa Perry, Author,
Young, Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students
Disciplinary study can prepare students
to examine contemporary issues broadly,
deeply and epistomologically, (i.e., think
about their conceptual roots –biomedical
and disease orientation, social marketing
campaigns presented through the media,
or ethno-cultural norms and traditions).
However, there is much to be learned
about health and human behaviour
through the practice of health.
Mobilizing student involvement within
communities of concern communicates
important messages about the role of
individuals in society and, in turn, the
impact society has in individual life.
Mobilizing student involvement
Current brain research indicates that
learning is optimized in a high-challenge,
low-threat environment that is a safe and
orderly place open to the expression of
young people’s questions, thoughts, and
feelings. If this type of environment is
created, students are more likely to
experience the condition of “relaxed
alertness” that maximizes learning (Caine
& Caine, 1997). Instructional
methodologies and school governance
practices
that
make
learning
environments safer, more caring, better
managed, and more participatory have
been shown to increase student
attachment to school. In turn, students
who are more engaged and attached to
school have better attendance, higher
graduation rates, and fewer at-risk
behaviours such as drug use, drop
out/non attendance, and conduct
problems (Hawkins, Catalono, & Miller,
1992). Birch & Ladd, (1997) found that
a sense of ‘closeness’ to the school – the
teachers, other students, and activities –
relates significantly to school bonding,
self-directed behaviour, and levels of
cooperation in the classroom. Providing
students with opportunities for
participation may also increase students’
intrinsic motivation to behave in
pro-social ways, thereby decreasing
school crime and other forms of deviant
behaviour sometimes found in the school
setting (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson,
1980).
Participation in health promotion
initiatives can be a powerful way to
express interest and skills related to
leadership and health citizenry. Involved
in determining and initiating health
projects, young people demonstrate their
ability to act in relation to their concerns,
values and beliefs, while making evident
their willingness and ability to be
involved in the creation of a community
that cares. Through service-oriented
projects that address the physical, social,
mental, and spiritual health of students,
young people are more likely to form
‘identities of achievement’, a sense that
together we can make changes happen.
Too often labels are used to define
students - ‘at risk’, ‘learning disabled’.
Labels limit expectations because as
McMahon (2002) argues, “the use of the
term ‘at risk students’ implicitly
reinforces the belief that failure and risk
reside within the student rather than the
relationships between the students and
the institutions or in the institutions
themselves. Furthermore, the global
nature of the depiction and implicit sense
of finality contained in the notion of ‘at
risk students’ conveys a message that the
ascription of at risk is somehow all
encompassing and terminal, whereas
‘students at risk’ more readily identifies
the situational nature of what we are
describing.” When students are thought
of as resources to be developed,
programmers redirect their efforts to
allocate and concentrate resources
on building students’ gifts and
talents towards their potential –
self-actualization. More importantly a
strong message is communicated to
students that who they are (capable of
becoming) as people (their acts of
conscience and care) is more important
than what they are.
Building communities of care
Caring, according to Noddings (2001),
implies a continuous drive for
competence. “In the virtue sense, it refers
to a person who continually strives for
the competence required to respond
adequately to the recipients of care; in the
relational sense, it refers to situations
regularly displaying the kinds of
interaction in which both parties are
growing. For teaching, both senses are
captured by Milton Mayeroff when he
writes: ‘To care for another person, in the
most significant sense, is to help him
grow and actualize himself (1971)’.
In health-minded schools, care means
aligning health aspirations and initiatives
with the core values and goals of
the institution. Accordingly, health
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
7
promotion is an integral part of student
achievement and school improvement –
not an add-on. For example, health
promotion initiatives make apparent
important messages about the role and
purpose of education, such as preparing
young people to play active roles in
society today and beyond (i.e., to ‘inherit
the world’). Educators should be “the
seed of the world”, those who prepare the
ground and plant the seeds of the future
(Civil Rights Leader – Victoria AdamsGrey). In health-infused classrooms,
students are urged to relate what they
learn to better living, to relate lived
experience to their understanding of the
world, to accept that they can make a
difference in people’s lives.
Theresa Perry (2003), in Young, Gifted
and Black: Promoting High Achievement
Among African-American Students, points
out that even though there was no
expectation of being rewarded for
advanced education in the same ways as
white people in the larger society, African
Americans pursued educational achievement with a vengeance for its own
inherent rewards. She poses several
interesting questions. Among them: Why
should one make an effort to excel in
school if one cannot determine if the
learning will ever be valued, seen, or
acknowledged? Why should one focus on
learning in school if that learning will not
affect, inform, or alter one’s status as a
member of an oppressed group?
Perry concludes, “For African Americans,
from slavery to the modern Civil Rights
movement, the answers were these: You
pursued learning because this is how you
asserted yourself as a free person; how
you claimed your humanity. You pursued
learning so you could work for social
uplift, for the liberation of your people.
You pursued education so you could
prepare yourself to lead your people”.
Health promotion initiatives invite
opportunities to build ‘care-actor’ (i.e.,
engagement in learning with character –
as a way to demonstrate care for self and
others, as a way to participate in the
8
promotion and protection of a just
society, to experience generosity and
civility). The health promotion initiatives
portrayed in this issue of the PHE
Journal showcase ways students exercise
leadership, initiate and participate in
campaigns for social justice, serve as
activists and protectionists for human
dignity, and demonstrate citizenry.
Accordingly, HPS foster a rich sense of
what it means to be part of community
that embodies and expresses certain
beliefs and values about human rights
and entitlements.
Conclusion
Through meaningful engagement in
school life and their communities, youth
are more likely to feel like they belong
(Benson 1997), that their efforts (ideas,
service initiatives) are taken seriously, and
that they can make a difference. This
issue of the PHE Journal demonstrates
that the notion of the Health Promoting
School (HPS) is presented as a
conceptual framework that:
• Legitimates and intensifies student
involvement in learning for citizenry;
• Links health promotion and the
school improvement process;
• Encourages coordination of a wide
spectrum of services and supports;
• Serves as a tool for inquiring about the
various environmental factors that
interact with health and learning
opportunities which ultimately result
in an improvement in the quality of
life of students as well as their direct
involvement in the creation and
sustained commitment to this process
at school, in their neighbourhoods,
and throughout society;
• Acknowledges engagement in health
promotion initiatives as part of a study
of and participation in change agentry
– anywhere. ■
R EFE RENCES
Anderson, A. (1999). Using health education to
develop literacy. Research for Educational Reform,
4, (1), 21-33.
Birch, S.H. & Ladd, G.W.(1997). The teacherchild relationship and children’s early school
adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 35, 61-79.
Benson, P. (1997). All kids are our kids: What
communities must do to raise caring and
responsible children and adolescents. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Birch
Caine, R.N., & Caine, G. (1997). Education at
the edge of possibilities. ASCD: Alexandria VA.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Larson, R. (1980).
Intrinsic rewards in school crime. In K. Baker
and R.J. Rubel (Eds.), Violence and crime in the
schools. Lexington, MA: D.C. Health.
Eisner, E.(1991). The Enlightened Eye:
Qualitative Inquiry and the Enhancement of
Educational Practice. New York: MacMillan.
Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R.F., & Millar, J.Y.
(1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol
and other drug problems in adolescence and
early adulthood: Implications for substance
abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112,
64-105.
Palmer, P. (1998). The Courage to Teach. JosseyBass Inc. San Francisco, CA.
Perry, T. (2003). Up from the parched earth:
Toward a theory of African-American
achievement. In T. Perry, C. Steele, & A.
Hilliard, III (Eds.), Young, gifted and Black:
Promoting high achievement among African
American students (pp. 1-108). Boston: Beacon.
McMahon, B. (2002). Beyond a discourse of
deficit: The role of Educational Administrators in
Conceptions of Risk and Resiliency. Paper delivered
at the 7th annual Values and Educational
Leaderhip Conference, Toronto, Canada,
October 3-5, 2002.
Noddings, N. (2001). The caring teacher. In
Handbook of Research on Teaching 4th Edition.
(pp. 99-105). Washington D.C.: The American
Educational Research Association.
Perry, T. (2003). Young, Gifted and Black:
Promoting High Achievement Among AfricanAmerican Students
World Health Organization Regional Office
for Europe (1997). The Health Promoting
School – an investment in education, health
and democracy. Conference Report (Greece,
May 1-5, 1997).
Wolfgang, M.A. & Aveyard, P. (2001). A new
theory of health promoting schools based on
human functioning, school organisation and
pedagogic practice. Paper presented at the
Partners and Health Conference in the
Netherlands, 2001.
Principles for an
Active Healthy School
Community
By: Barb Ronson (Center for Health Promotion – University
of Toronto), Jack Jones (World Health Organization),
Colleen Stanton, (Independent Consultant)
[email protected]
A
s new ideas and projects are developed, attention to
key principles offer decision-makers both an
interpretive lens and critical tool for making judgements
about their initiative. Principles help to center on the
fundamental or core values claimed to be upheld in our
work. Principles enable us to avoid educational
evangelism and quick fix remedies. Anchored in
principles, we are better able to hold ourselves
accountable to a higher standard.
PRINCIPLE #1
Active Healthy School Communities have a school culture that
understands health and uses it as an effective strategy for
student achievement.
An Active Healthy School Community aims to improve student
achievement and understands that health status is a resource for
achievement. The concept of an Active Healthy School
Community is based on the premise that health and learning are
inextricably interconnected and that increasing focus on health,
especially physical activity and nutrition, will create the conditions
our students need for successful learning.
The WHO Collaborating Center to Promote Health Through
Schools and Communities (Boston) has reviewed substantial
research that shows the relationships among health, cognition,
school participation, and academic achievement. Their Education
For All 2000 report reveals the following key findings:
The following principles for Active Healthy School
Communities have been identified based on:
1) An international literature review of promising school
health promotion practices,
2) Research that analyzes a systems-based approach to healthpromoting schools,
3) Successes observed in local Ontario initiatives, and
4) Consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO).
1. School-based nutrition and health interventions can improve
academic performance.
2. Students’ health and nutrition status affects their enrolment,
retention, and absenteeism.
3. Education benefits health.
4. Education can reduce social and gender inequities.
5. Health promotion for teachers benefits their health, morale,
and quality of instruction.
6. Health promotion and disease prevention programs are costeffective.
7. Treating youngsters in school can reduce disease in the
community.
8. Multiple, coordinated strategies produce a greater effect than
individual strategies. However, multiple strategies for any one
audience must be targeted carefully.
9. Health education is most effective when it uses interactive
methods in a skills-based approach.
10. Trained teachers delivering health education produce more
significant outcomes in student health knowledge and skills
than untrained teachers.
1
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PRINTEMPS 2004
9
PRINCIPLE #2
2
values physical activity.
Physical activity increases cerebral blood flow, glucose uptake, and
metabolism. Physical activity enhances the development of
sophisticated perceptual and cognitive behaviours, heightens
levels of alertness, increases capacity for improved concentration,
increases self-efficacy and self-esteem, improves stress
management, reduces disruptive behaviours, and improves math,
reading and writing scores. Advocacy efforts for quality physical
education and physical activity programs call for:
• All students to be active for most, if not all, of the scheduled
physical education class;
PRINCIPLE #3
•
•
•
•
•
•
More time slots for compulsory physical education;
More emphasis on a variety of lifelong, accessible and
enjoyable activities such as aerobics and dance;
A balance between competition and sport specific skill
development, with time for free play, active games, and noncompetitive supervised recreational activities;
Opportunities to participate in a variety of individual and
team oriented physical activity programs both in competitive
and non-competitive formats. Research shows that noncompetitive physical activity and recreation may generate the
most gains for chronic disease prevention and citizenship
skills;
Greater coordination with recreation service providers to
address issues related to space, supervision, and liability; and
Enhanced after school activities for students, parents and staff.
3
values healthy nutrition.
Nutritional interventions such as micronutrient supplements and
the treatment of intestinal worms have also been shown to
increase students’ attention, cognitive problem solving, and
test scores.
Poor diet is linked with reduced attention span, reduced shortterm memory, reduced concentration, reduced reflective and
analytical abilities, and low self-esteem. Evidence from around the
world shows that treating nutritional and health conditions in
school can improve academic performance. In Benin, children in
schools with food services scored significantly higher on secondgrade tests than did those in schools without food services. In
Jamaica, providing breakfast to primary school students
significantly increased attendance and arithmetic scores. In the
United States, low-income children (before they participated in a
school breakfast program) scored significantly lower on
achievement tests than higher-income children. After the students
began participating in the school breakfast program, their scores
improved more than the scores of the non-participants.
Nutrition should be an important part of the school environment
that includes:
• A comprehensive health curriculum;
• Nutrition services, breakfast programs, and healthy cafeteria
menus;
• Student involvement in addressing their own nutritional health;
• Cross-curricular programs, such as Biology classes that
provide an opportunity for learning about the link between
nutrition and disease, the chemical content of foods, and the
specialty requirements of diabetics, hyperactive children, and
people with allergies of various kinds. Home Economics
classes that teach recipes for various health conditions; and
• Student led projects that contribute to the nutritional health
of the student body and the community.
PRINCIPLE #4
4
Active Healthy School Communities have a culture that values
democracy, participation, inclusion, and equity.
Among the ten fundamental principles of the European Network of
Health Promoting Schools, democracy is listed first. Their
conference report explains: “The Health Promoting School is
founded on democratic principles conducive to the promotion of
learning, personal and social development, and health.”
The next two fundamental principles are: Equity and Empowerment
and Action Competence. Equity ensures that schools are free from
10 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION
oppression, fear and ridicule. “The health promoting school
should provide equal access for all to the full range of educational
opportunities, enabling each individual to attain his or her full
potential free from discrimination.” The principle of
empowerment and action competence ensures that schools try to
improve young people’s opportunities to value and act upon their
own ideas for positive change. “It provides a setting within which
[students], working together with their teachers and others, can
gain a sense of achievement. Young people’s empowerment, linked
to their visions and ideas, enables them to influence their lives and
living conditions now and in the future. This is achieved through
quality educational policies and practices, which provide
opportunities for participation in critical decision making.”
PRINCIPLE #5
PRINCIPLE #6
6
5
7
8
Active Healthy School Communities have a sense of
‘shared responsibility’ for children and youth.
Leadership in promoting and supporting collaboration
may come from within the school itself or from the
larger school community of stakeholders and partners
that includes public health, community recreation, and
community service providers. An Active Healthy
School Community team is an ideal way to engage
planning and ensure coordination among stakeholders.
Keep in mind, however, that the team is not complete
without inclusion of students themselves. Every effort
must be made to consider their needs and ideas, include
them in decision-making, work in their long-term
interest, and empower their leadership. As stated (by a
youth participant) in a research study on youth
empowerment conducted by the Coalition of Ontario
Agencies for School Health - “Nothing About Us,
Without Us!”
supports professional development and provides a healthy work
setting.
An Active Healthy School Community understands that while the
school is an institution for learning, it is also a workplace for
approximately one fifth of the Canadian population. In order for
the school environment to be a healthy setting for children to learn,
it also needs to be a healthy setting for educators to work. Health
promoting schools are mindful of the health of students, as well as
the health of educators and school staff.
PRINCIPLE #7
values evidence-based decision-making and evaluation.
An Active Healthy School Community thrives in a culture where
there is a continuous quest for information and insights to guide its
development. When possible, decisions must be made based on
measurable data, research, and feedback that enable an
understanding of how to improve services and become cost-efficient
and effective. As work processes are examined, all of the
assumptions upon which people base their thinking must be
questioned in light of all the relevant data and information.
Evaluation and monitoring must be ongoing initiatives.
PRINCIPLE #8
supports and encourages ongoing, lifelong learning and
adaptation based on a holistic “systems approach”.
The term “lifelong learning” is increasingly significant today. This
notion applies not only to student learning, but also to the school
community at large. Schools as institutions can and should
continually learn and adapt to changing needs and
responsibilities. Communities and organizations that interact
with schools must also adapt in order to maintain effective school
relationships and partnerships as schools change to meet emerging
demands.
According to Stanton (in press), the term capacities can be viewed
as “the combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes required to
accomplish or attain a certain process/outcome”. Stanton identified
eleven core elements or capacities that need to be considered to
successfully initiate, implement and sustain a holistic integrated
approach to health-promoting schools:
• An appreciation and understanding of an integrated holistic
approach to health
• An appreciation and understanding of system change and
integrated planning processes
• Development of a common and shared vision/meaning
• A focus on people and relationship building
• Design/creation of an organizational infrastructure
• Design/implementation of a multi-strategic approach
• Brokering/leveraging resources
• Identification, design and delivery of professional
development, education and training
• Accountability and governance structures
• Evaluation and monitoring mechanisms
• An environment that supports and encourages ongoing
learning and sustainability
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PRINTEMPS 2004 11
H U M A N
P OT E N T I A L
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our
light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and
fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us. It’s in everyone. And as we let our own
light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech, 1994
Margaret Wheatley explains that if we want to create a healthier
system “we need to connect it more to itself.” An organization
can learn from itself, bringing people within the system together
to address complex issues and problems. This ability of
individuals and organizations to learn contributes to the growth
and development of the individuals, the organization, and its
long-term sustainability.
Principle-centered decision-making focuses attention on the
values and commitments that undergird individual and
organizational development. Principles make apparent the
philosophy and foundations upon which thinking and reasoning
about health promotion is guided. In relation to these key
principles, all health promotion initiatives can be tested,
evaluated, revised, and sustained.
REFERENCES
Anderson A (2003) Better Health, Better
Schools, Better Futures. OISE/UT.
Anderson A, Kalnins I, Raphael D & McCall D
(1999). Partners for health: Schools, communities
and young people working together, Toronto:
University of Toronto.
Battistich V, Solomon D & Watson M (1998).
Sense of Community as a Mediating Factor in
Promoting Children’s Social and Ethical
Development. Paper presented at the meeting of
the AERA, San Diego CA, APR.
Beedy, JP (1997). Sports plus, positive learning
using sports: developing youth sports programs
that teach positive values. Hamilton, MA:
Project Adventure. (from SIRC SportQuest)
Hichwa J (1998). Right fielders are people too: an
inclusive approach to teaching middle school
physical education. Champaign, Ill:Human
Kinetics.
Jarousse JP & Mingat A (1991). “Assistance a la
formulation d’une politique nationale et d’un
programme d’investissement dans le secteur de
l’eduacation au Benin.” Projet UNESCO/
PNUD Benin/89/001. Paris: UNESCO. As
cited in Whitman et al., 2000.
Kane MJ (1998). Fictional denials of female
empowerment: A feminist analysis of young
adult sports fiction. Sociology of Sport Journal 15.
231-262.
Kirk D, (1998). The Myth of the Sporting
‘Legend’: Physical Education and the New
Physical Culture. Lecture Oct. 1998 Buenos
Aires. Retrieved from the World Wide Web at
www.efdeportes.com/efall/kirk.htm
Levinger B (1994). Nutrition, Health and
Education for All. Newton, Mass./New York:
Education Development Center/United Nations
Development Programme.
Simeon DT & Grantham-McGregor S (1989).
Effects of missing breakfast on the cognitive
functions of school children of differing
nutritional status. American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 49, 646-53. As cited in Whitman et
al., 2000.
McKee CL & DeWitt DJ et. al. (2002). School
Culture Project: Longitudinal Descriptive
Report, Toronto. Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health.
Simons-Morton BG, Crump AD, Haynie DL &
Saylor KE (1999). Student-school bonding and
adolescent problem behavior. Health Education
Research, 14(1), 99-107.
Meyers AF, Sampson AE, Weitzman M, Rogers
BL & Kayne H. (1989) School Breakfast
Program and School Performance. American
Journal of Disabled Children, 143, 1234-1239.
As cited in Whitman et al., 2000
Stanton, C. (2003). A Systems Approach to Health
Promoting Schools, Applied Research Paper for
Completion of MBA. Alberta: Athabasca
University.
Minister of Health & Welfare Canada. (1996)
Guide to Project Evaluation: A Participatory
Approach
Nokes C, Grantham-McGregor SM, Sawyer
AW, Cooper ES, Robinson BA & Bundy DAP
(n.d.) Moderate to High Infections of Trichuris
Trichura and Cognitive Function in Jamaican
School Children. London: Wellcome Trust
Research Centre for Parasitic Infections,
Department of Biology, Imperial College. As
cited in Whitman et al., 2000.
Pitavsky (1997). Insight: Website of the
Inclusive Education Service, Inclusive Education
Resources. http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/insight/
resources/in_res_charc_ed.html
Schultz EW et. al. (1987). Healthful School
Climate: Psychological Health and Well Being in
Schools. Journal of School Health, 57(10).
Wheatley, M. (1999). Leadership and the New
Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World.
Berrett-Koehler Publications Inc.
Whitman LV, Aldinger C, Levinger B &
Birdthistle I (2000). EFA2000 Assessment
Thematic Study on School Health and
Nutrition. WHO and EDC Inc.
WHO Regional Office for Europe (1997). The
Health Promoting School – an investment in
education, health and democracy. Conference
Report (Greece, May 1-5, 1997). Cophenhagen,
WHO.
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PRINTEMPS 2004 13
A Student Driven, Service-Based
High School Leadership Program –
Enabling students to make
a difference
By Dee Anne S. Vonde
Dee Anne S. Vonde earned a Ph.D. in
Family Ecology from Michigan State
University, and has taught in several
universities in California. She implemented
a successful Leadership program at Lord
Beaverbrook High School in Calgary, Alberta,
where she continues to teach. In recognition
of this achievement, she received the Prime
Minister of Canada’s Award for Teaching
Excellence in 2002, and the Pan Canadian
Student Choice Award in 2000 and 2001.
Dee Anne has published several books and
journal articles, and can be reached at
[email protected].
L
ord Beaverbrook High School (LBHS) in Calgary,
Alberta, a Grade 10-12 high school with 2700
students, implemented a Leadership program in the
1998-99 school year. The program is unique in Canada.
Based on a model of “service-based, student-driven
leadership”, it started with an enrollment of 15 students,
and has grown to 150 students per year. The program is
targeted at students who desire volunteer opportunities,
and wish to develop their leadership, mentoring,
communication, organization, and time management
skills. Students in the program identify needs in their
school or community, develop ideas for projects, and work
together as a team to accomplish their goals. A class
generally works on five or six projects a year. The leadership
resource manual used in the program can be viewed at
calgaryurbanvibe.ca/leadership.
Generally, students enter the Leadership
program in Grade 10. There are three
levels as follows:
Leadership 10/CALM 20
6 credits
Prerequisite: Admission interview
Leadership 20
5 credits
Prerequisite: Leadership 10/CALM 20
Leadership 30
5 credits
Prerequisite: Leadership 20
The program is approved by Alberta
Learning and counts as a class for
university entrance. Evaluation is based
on classroom participation and volunteer
work. For the Grade 10 program,
students also complete the key
Career & Life Management (CALM)
units including Careers, Sexuality,
Relationships, and Well-Being. In
addition to six class hours per week,
students must commit to a minimum of
two volunteer hours per week (after
school or on weekends). Many students
devote as much as 15 volunteer hours per
week because they are so committed to
the project. To enter the program,
students must complete a leadership
application form and provide a
confidential reference.
national and international attention.
There are two more schools in the
Calgary area that have now implemented
a similar program. Nick Fox, retired
principal of LBHS, states: “I have never
seen a program change the culture of a
school the way Leadership has at Lord
Beaverbrook High School.”
Leadership Program Model:
Student-Driven and Service-Based
At LBHS, the driving force behind the
Leadership program is the students’
desire to serve. The students, not
the teacher, initiate meaningful class
assignments. The students identify needs,
establish goals, and plan strategies. They
give their time and energy in service of a
project they deem important.
As students expend their time and
energy, they grow as persons, emotionally
and socially. When they observe firsthand
how their efforts are benefiting the school
and community, the students develop a
new sense of empowerment.
From school to school, the program and
activities will vary. Depending on the
interests of the students, the project
could have a community focus, a
national focus, or provide aid to a foreign
country. Some of the programs at LBHS
have included:
• Organizing a tea for senior citizens at
an elementary school assisted by the
elementary school students;
• Raising money for famine relief;
• Initiating programs to reduce violence
and alienation in the school.
Leadership Program: How it Works
The teacher plays a key role in the
leadership program, acting as a facilitator,
coach and mentor, rather than the
initiator and director of the program.
The class might best be described as
experiential learning, or an on-the-job
The Leadership program has had a
positive impact on the school
community at LBHS, and received
Lord Beaverbrook High School (LBHS) in Calgary, Alberta, a Grade
10-12 high school with 2700 students, implemented a Leadership
program in the 1998-99 school year. The program is unique in
Canada. Based on a model of “service-based, student-driven
leadership", it started with an enrollment of 15 students, and has
grown to 150 students per year. The program is targeted at students who
desire volunteer opportunities and wish to develop their leadership,
mentoring, communication, organization, and time management
skills. Students in the program identify needs in their school or
community, develop ideas for projects, and work together as a team to
accomplish their goals. This article provides an outline of the program,
how it works, and gives a sample of the various initiatives that students
have developed.
L’école secondaire Lord Beaverbrook de Calgary, en Alberta, qui compte
2 700 élèves de la 10e année à la 12e année lançait, au cours de l’année
scolaire 1998-1999, un programme de Leadership étudiant unique au
Canada. S’inspirant d’un modèle de leadership « axé sur les services et
géré par les élèves », ce programme a débuté avec 15 élèves. Depuis, il
n’a cessé de croître et accueille aujourd’hui 150 jeunes désireux de faire
du bénévolat et de perfectionner leurs habiletés en matière de leadership,
de mentorat, de communication, d’organisation et de gestion du temps.
Dans un premier temps, les élèves identifient des besoins au sein de leur
école ou de leur collectivité. Ils trouvent ensuite des idées de projets et
s’organisent par équipes pour atteindre leurs objectifs. L’article décrit
le fonctionnement du programme et fournit des exemples de projets
en découlant.
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 15
training program, with grades
determined based on progress and results
of the specific leadership project, rather
than an academic understanding of
leadership. Assistant Principal, Gordon
Marconi states, “We set the parameters,
frame the journey, and then get out of
the way.”
At the beginning of each semester, the
teacher facilitates a student brainstorming
session,
ensuring
an
environment in which everyone feels safe
to express themselves. Everyone is seated
in a circle, allowing for good eye contact.
The students share their ideas for
projects. No ideas are judged as good or
bad. For example, a student might
suggest, “I want to write a book for teens
who are experiencing depression.” The
group reviews this idea, and a team forms
to examine it further. The team conducts
appropriate literature reviews, seeks
expert assistance from various community agencies, contacts book publishers,
and secures the necessary funding.
The setting of the Leadership program is
one where the Socratic method of
questioning is at its best. The teacher’s
role is to ask penetrating questions about
issues that students may be dealing with
for the first time. Teachers seek to
develop the qualities and potential within
each student, encouraging them to reach
out beyond their existing comfort level
while they plan and implement their
projects. Some programs involve significant costs and so an external source for
funding must be identified. Some
programs are quite involved and may
require several years to accomplish. There
are always some risks to success (i.e., not
receiving funding), so flexibility is
necessary. Projects may eventually fail
due to lack of interest or funds, time
limitations, or mounting complexities.
The students themselves decide when a
project will be discontinued.
By pursuing complex and long-term
goals, students learn the importance of
teamwork and tenacity. The teacher
ensures that all members of the group are
participating actively. The shy,
introverted student that comes into the
class is often hesitant to speak out,
but perhaps has computer skills to
contribute. This class provides a setting
where every student can contribute, and
students learn that it takes many people
with many different skills to make any
project successful.
During the course of their projects,
students also learn how to connect with
people and organizations that can
help them accomplish their goals.
Organizations such as Calgary Health
Region, Calgary Family Services,
Developmental Disabilities Resource
Center, and Leadership Calgary have
provided valuable guidance, technical
information and finances to the
leadership program.
Three Projects: A Closer Look
“Challenge Day”
Students identified the need for a
Challenge Day event that would help
students develop communication skills,
encourage healthy emotional expression,
and identify the roles and responsibilities
of mentors. However, the $15,000 cost
was a major impediment. An abbreviated
program was proposed to train 25
mentors and deliver the program to 100
students, but that would not achieve the
results the students wanted. For this
reason, Challenge Day was deferred until
they could do it right. At last, students
wrote a successful proposal, assisted by
staff from Developmental Disabilities
Resource Center, and the event took
place in October 2003.
In a workshop facilitated by representatives from the Challenge Day
organization based in California (see
www.challengeday.com), 100 students
and teachers received training as mentors.
These mentors then acted as facilitators
in follow-up training sessions and
roundtable discussions. The entire event
lasted five days and involved over 680
students, staff, and community workers.
The impact of the Challenge Day
program was profound, and there is a
new sense of community in the school.
The LBHS Leadership program received
a Volunteer Award from the City of
Calgary for this initiative. Some
comments from the participants were:
• “I am a new person. I will never look
the other way when someone is
attempting to put another person
down. I will speak up.”
• “I have a completely new attitude
about school. I now feel that I belong
here. I am accepted.”
• “I never got involved in school events
before, but now I am joining a group
to reduce racism.”
Grade 6 Mentorship
In an ongoing project, female students in
the Leadership program deliver a Health
In Perspective (HIP) program to Grade 6
girls in four nearby elementary schools.
The HIP program includes several units
including: Move That Body, Good
Stress-Bad Stress, Media Madness, and
How to Become Smoke Free. The mentors
address many health and lifestyle issues,
and are often shocked by the questions
the younger girls ask.
Teachers in the elementary schools see
the value of involving the high school
students as mentors:
• “The elementary students in my class
listen to what I say, but when the high
school students come over, they hear
every word.”
• “I got a great deal of satisfaction that I
was doing something good for my
community and myself and I will
carry this forward forever.”
• “Leadership taught me a new sense of
responsibility for my well-being and
pride in everything I do.”
The LBHS school nurse (provided by
Calgary Health Region, and covering
several elementary and Junior High
schools in the area) has been extremely
helpful to the leadership students. The
nurse frequently accompanies the high
school girls in these mentoring sessions,
strengthening connections between the
high school and elementary school
students, and supporting the mentors as
they try to answer serious questions.
A Book for Teens, By Teens
Students discussed problems faced by
their peers who were experiencing
various forms of depression. Wishing to
tackle this problem, the students
reviewed books written by professionals
about teen depression, and found that
none were written by teens themselves.
They decided to write their own book
entitled “I’m A Teen Too.” They
clarified their goals, and solicited the
help of staff from Developmental
Disabilities Resource Center. They,
through their own efforts, secured
funding from outside agencies to write
and publish the book. They are now
interviewing students (assisted by
trained professionals) who have
experienced depression in order to
better understand the specific problems
faced by teens. The Leadership students
have a strong sense of commitment to
this project, which will take another
year to complete.
Conclusion
These are some typical comments from
student mentors:
• “I like being a mentor. I can see how
much I have grown and that I have a
lot to give.”
• “I never thought of myself as a role
model before, but now I think about
the decisions I am making in my life,
not just when I am at the elementary
school, but always.”
A HIP program for boys is not available.
However, for the past three years, the
young men in the Leadership program
have been delivering a program similar
to HIP to Grade 6 boys in four
elementary schools. The Leadership
students are assisted and supported by a
social worker from Calgary Family
Services (CFS), and they jointly plan
their weekly mentoring sessions. The
Leadership students have received a
grant from Social Venture Partners (a
Calgary philanthropic group) to write
and publish a resource manual to help
in delivering this successful mentoring
program. To accomplish this task,
the students have enlisted additional
participation from Developmental
Disabilities Resource Center, Calgary
Heath Region Tobacco Reduction
Branch, the Calgary Health Region
School Nurse, and Calgary Family
Services.
Going Forward to Make a Difference
Many students who have participated in
the program have been recognized for
their leadership abilities, and have won
provincial and national awards and
scholarships. After graduation, Leadership students continue to serve, utilizing
the skills they learned in high school.
Some have returned to help run events
like Challenge Day; others are assisting in
writing a Health in Perspective book for
boys. One of the graduates is starting a
HIP program in the city where she is
attending university.
Here are some of the comments of those
who have participated in the Leadership
program:
• “This class provided me with a chance
to find out who I really am.”
There are no limits to what students can
accomplish. In a student-driven, servicebased Leadership program, high school
students work on projects that have an
impact on the school, community,
nation, and the world. Students
experience the mental anguish and
frustrations in trying get the resources
they need to complete their projects.
Their sense of community is broadened
as they work with each other, and with
business and community leaders and
community agencies to acquire resources
required to accomplish these goals.
Students become increasingly passionate
about completing the projects, and as
they reach their goals, they also feel the
exhilaration of a job well done.
Not all LBHS Leadership students will
go to college or become student leaders
in college or university. The program is
not designed to train gifted students, nor
is it designed solely as a college
preparatory course. The purpose of the
Leadership program is to provide
students with training for life, helping
them to develop leadership and personal
communication skills that can be utilized
in their future endeavors. ■
REF ERENCES
Greenleaf, R.K. The Servant as Leader.
(1991). Robert K. Greenleaf Center.
Indianapolis,
Indiana.
See
also:
www.greenleaf.org/
See www.challengeday.org.
Canadian Intramural Recreation Association.
( 1999) Health In Perspective. A Youth-Led
Approach to Healthier Lifestyles. Health
Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
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Annapolis Valley Health
Promoting School Project -
OUR STORY
by Janet Edwards, Ismagh Bligh, and Sheila Munro
When students were asked: “Given no barriers, what activities would you most like to do
in a day and what foods would you most like to eat for lunch”, they chose healthy food and
physical activities most often. This is good news considering the rising rates of obesity and
sedentary living in our youth. It also shows us that the issue is not: ‘How to interest our
youth in healthy eating and physical activity?’ Rather, ‘how schools can make it easy for all
of us to be engaged in these health promoting behaviours.’
With school boards, administrators, school staff, parents and the community working
together, this can be a reality. When students are heard and involved in the process of
making their schools a healthier place, amazing things can happen.
The Annapolis Valley Health Promoting School Project is using population health
approaches to work with and support eight schools and their students in making the healthy
choice the easy choice at their school.
T
he Annapolis Valley Health
Promoting School Project (AVHPSP)
is a two and a half year initiative
(October 2001 to March 2004) currently
funded through the Canadian Diabetes
Strategy, Health Canada. It evolved from
a grass roots movement in 1997
involving parents and teachers at Port
Williams Elementary School. At that
time, they had initiated changes in the
school menu from ‘fast food’ to include
more nutritious food. This resulted in the
establishment of a school food program
and the drafting of a school board food
policy. The grass roots movement was
eventually incorporated into the “Port
Williams Nutrition for Health
Association”. The mandate was expanded
to link healthy eating and health
maintenance with physical activity to
ensure a holistic approach to health and
well-being. Building on its success, and
wishing to support and strengthen the
development of similar programs in the
additional elementary and middle
schools in Annapolis Valley Regional
School Board (AVRSB), the Port
Williams Nutrition for Health
Association received funding in 2001
from the Canadian Diabetes Strategy.
The AVHPSP is about making healthy
choices easy choices for children. It
supports schools in their efforts to
create school environments that offer,
encourage, and value healthy eating and
physical activity.
Through multi-sector partnerships, and
using a population health approach in a
school setting, the program builds
capacity in schools to offer healthy
nutrition and physical activity opportunities to students. This approach
ensures a healthy environment that
provides students with skills to develop
healthy food and activity behaviours for
life, ultimately contributing to a reduced
risk for developing chronic diseases.
Eight schools (five elementary and
three middle schools) participated in
the Health Promoting School (HPS)
project. Other schools in the Annapolis
Valley Regional School Board are also
keen to develop similar opportunities for
their school.
The HPS project involves many multisector partnerships working with and
supporting schools. Project partners,
such as Active Kids/Healthy Kids
(AK/HK) and Breakfast for Learning,
create links with other groups to share
best practices and to obtain alternate
sources of funding. Regional efforts of
the AK/HK strategy have provided
funding support to schools to enhance
physical activity. They serve as a valuable
link to the HPS project as it continues
to build capacity. Multiple strategies
are being implemented with support
from the partnership including policy,
education, awareness, leadership
development, program implementation,
advocacy for supportive long term
funding, multi-sectoral partnership
development, project evaluation.
The Current Situation
It is important to note that the AVRSB is
the only school board in Nova Scotia to
have a healthy eating policy. However,
many schools in AVRSB do not have
cafeterias, lunchrooms or appropriate
facilities to prepare healthy foods. In
several schools, volunteers and teachers
coordinate and implement the programs.
The greatest challenge facing the schools
is financial sustainability of their food
service. For a school nutrition program to
be universally accessible, foods must be
offered at reasonable costs. To ensure a
reliable, quality program, well trained
and adequately paid staff are also
required. The school board is unable to
subsidize nutritious foods and food
services staff, as this would have a
negative impact on academic programs.
With respect to physical activity
opportunities, a board physical education
policy is being developed. However, there
are several schools within AVRSB who
are operating their physical education
program in a multi-purpose room
because their school lacks gym facilities.
Most of the AVRSB schools are
predominately in rural areas where
community recreation facilities and
opportunities are limited. Transportation
to recreation facilities can be challenging
for many families. Many schools within
the AVRSB offer sports after school
hours, which requires parents to provide
transportation. Teachers are also required
to support these programs without pay.
Our Structure
A Project Advisory Committee with
representation from many sectors,
including the school board, schools,
public health, food service organizations,
parents, sport and recreation, and other
health organizations, meets regularly to
discuss the project’s implementation and
direction. At the school level, health
promotion teams with membership from
administrators, teachers, school staff,
parents and students, identify their
school specific health promoting needs
and develop plans to meet these needs.
Students are involved by providing input
through formal/informal surveys, student
leadership, student implementation of
projects, focus groups, student council,
and student representation on their
school health promoting committee.
What Has Happened in the Project?
What have we learned?
An early finding showed that student
preference for physical activity and food
was primarily healthy. When students
were asked to pick the four foods they
would most like to eat for lunch from a
range of healthy and unhealthy food
options, the top two choices were pizza
and fruit. In addition, 75% of students
prefer to drink water, juice or milk over
pop. Similarly, given a choice from
inactive and active activities, when asked
what four activities they would most like
to do in a day, the students’ preference
was for “active” activities. Biking,
swimming and team sports were ahead of
computer, video games and watching TV.
This preference declines after age eleven,
particularly for females.
The schools are now focussing on and
planning initiatives that will benefit all
students and families in their schools.
The root causes of inactivity and obesity,
as well as the barriers to participation in
physical activity and healthy eating are
being addressed. From the parent survey,
the most common barriers to
participation in physical activity were:
cost, lack of available activities, child not
interested, the time required of parents,
lack of facilities, and transportation.
Barriers to healthy eating cited by parents
were: child not interested, inadequate
time to eat, and cost of healthy foods.
A collection of examples from the project
schools on some of the ways they have
enhanced their healthy eating initiatives
includes:
• Champlain Elementary School
includes a healthy snack with their
after school activity program.
• MCS students have explored a range
of foods through special events:
Grocery Store Fruit Sampling, making
Smoothies, visit to the Dairy Farm to
Celebrate World Milk Day; How to
Make Shivers – a frozen 100% juice
popsicle.
• Somerset & District School sends
home their school policy on healthy
eating with the school menu. The
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PRINTEMPS 2004 19
•
•
•
•
Home & School Association organizes
an annual craft fair to subsidize the
Healthy School Food Program.
Coldbrook & District School held a
Health Fair that included healthy food
taste testing. Some students were
exposed to foods that they had never
tasted before. All students gave
feedback and menu changes were
made.
New Minas Elementary School
changed the looks and placement of
their fruit & veggie cups. They are
now sold out every day.
Port Williams Elementary School
took the opportunity to incorporate
physical activity and healthy eating on
a school wide trip to a Corn Maze.
After the active part of making it
through the maze, each student had a
corn on the cob. This will become an
early fall menu item.
Evangeline Middle School has a team
of students called ‘Select Foods’ to
work on improving and promoting
the healthy food options on their
school menu.
• Wolfville School surveyed their
students and held focus groups to
make nutritional improvements to
their school menu. They continued
with building skills in students around
making their own healthy snacks and
incorporated more skill building into
the grade nine family studies class.
Some examples of how the schools have
enhanced their physical activity
opportunities include:
• Champlain Elementary School
teaches older students how to
introduce and lead new playground
games during recess. These games are
reinforced to the parents by sending
home the game rules in a weekly
newsletter. The games can be played
alone or with others and require no
equipment.
• Margaretville Consolidated School
has a Kids Teaching Kids coaching
clinic so that older students can teach
different physical activities to younger
students. This is very beneficial to a
school that only has a physical
education teacher 10% of the time.
• Somerset Elementary School has a
student leadership program requiring
all grade five and six classes to be
active leaders for their noon hour
activity program. Students can take
part in a wide range of physical
activities.
• New Minas Elementary School has
peer leaders that promote the benefits
of physical activity during special
events to students. The peer leaders
also coordinate the availability of
physical activity equipment during
recess and lunch.
• Port Williams Elementary School
has focussed on the family and
has implemented several initiatives
to support the whole family’s
participation in physical activity;
for example Walk Across Canada,
Snow Shoe Making Workshop,
Participation in Harvest Valley Half
Marathon, Family Skating, Corn Maze,
Cross Country Ski Sale, and more.
• Evangeline Middle School offers daily
physical education classes and
encourages physical activity at home
with their Fitness Shoe. In addition to
a wide range of physical activities
such as rope courses, their no-cut
policy allows all students to participate
in extracurricular activities.
• Coldbrook & District School found a
way to encourage families to their
school by offering Healthy Active
Nights led by grade eight students and
local university athletes.
• Wolfville School held Healthy and
Active Days for their middle school
students and offered a range of
physical activities that were noncompetitive, inexpensive, required
little equipment and could be done at
home. Students evaluated the session
and the two most popular activities
were offered at no cost to the students
after school. Teachers have been
trained and changes have been made
to the school schedule so that daily
For more
information, contact:
Janet Edwards,
Project Coordinator
Promoting School Project
(902) 765-3851;
[email protected]
Ismay Bligh,
Project Chair
Promoting School Project
(902) 542-6310;
[email protected]
Sheila Munro,
Active Healthy Living Consultant,
AVRSB
(902) 538-4600;
[email protected]
physical education is part of their
school day.
■
In addition to all of these great
examples, the project has offered
workshops and sharing opportunities to
build skills and leadership. Newsletters
were distributed to all parents and to
other schools. The partners and schools
are creating a sustainability plan to
identify priority areas and strategies to
continue the momentum after the
funding from Canadian Diabetes
Strategy has ended.
■
How are we doing?
The Annapolis Valley HPS Project is
working with the Population Health &
Research Unit, Dalhousie University to
evaluate the project and has developed
a comprehensive evaluation framework.
Baseline information has been collected
from the current eight project schools.
Results show:
■ Given no barriers, children would
choose healthier foods and more
‘active’ activities. However, after age
eleven, preference for healthier foods
and active activities begins to decline.
■ 95% of parents and teachers are very
supportive of schools playing a major
role in promoting health at school.
■ 64% of parents and teachers believe
that it is primarily the family’s
responsibility to promote healthy
eating and physical activity.
Children were also surveyed in the fall
and winter months to find out what their
food and activity behaviour was at school
and after school.
■ Less than half of the students who
completed the survey had fruits or
vegetables for lunch. If the lunch was
brought from home, the student was
more likely to have fruit/vegetables.
■ More
involvement in “active”
activities at school and much less
involvement after school.
■ Top in-school activities were playing
with friends, gym, and sports. Top
after-school activities were TV,
reading/homework, listening to music
■
There was a link between fruit/
vegetable consumption and physical
activity.
The foods students reported eating at
lunch and after school were consistent
from fall to winter.
The number of ‘active’ activities that
students reported doing declined
slightly in the winter.
Information is also being gathered during
the fall and winter of each school year on:
■ the types and quantities of food
available and sold in school snack/
lunch programs
■ the physical activity opportunities
available to students during the school
day and out of school hours
■ evaluation
of initiatives implemented.The lessons learned and
evaluation results from this project
will be incorporated into ‘How To
Guides’ that will further illustrate our
story from the Annapolis Valley
Health Promoting School Project.
These will be available in March 2004.
Continuing Our Project
One of the lessons learned from the
project partners and schools is that
change takes time, but a series of small
changes over a period of time and
collaboration with others does bring you
closer to the goal. The involvement of
students, parents, school, partners and
the community contribute to a richness
in the quality of the progress made so far.
Health policy and funding are essential to
provide direction and program support,
but in order for meaningful, sustainable
change to take place, leadership and
collaboration in each school must be
facilitated to identify the strengths,
resources and opportunities to become a
Health Promoting School. Healthy
lifestyles should not be dependent on
discretionary funding and volunteers
available; rather, the requirement is for
secure, sustainable funding. The project
has applied for future funding so that this
important work can be continued. ■
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21
Developing a School Food/Nutrition
Policy or Guidelines
By Christine Preece, Quality School Health Program Advisory Committee Chair
S
chool food and nutrition policies provide guidelines for
dealing with food and nutrition issues in schools. They help
to create an environment where children can practice healthy
eating habits and demonstrate a commitment to student health.
Effective food and nutrition policies set out the type and procedures for
food and beverage provision at school. Including:
• What types of food will be served in schools; in other words, the nutritional
quality of the foods and beverages being served.
• At what times foods are served in schools.
• The individuals/organizations responsible for providing food and beverages.
• Whether foods are used for fundraisers, and if they are, the foods
that are appropriate.
• How food and nutrition education is included in the
curriculum.
Sample Food Policy
Good nutrition is important for growth, development
and learning. The school (or school board) has a
responsibility to foster and support healthy eating
practices by:
• Providing a minimum of 30 minutes per week of
nutrition education for all children of all grades.
• Substituting unhealthy fundraising events such as
chocolate bar sales with healthier products such as
cheese, berries, citrus fruit sales.
• Offering healthy foods for all food-related activities
in schools (e.g., replacing hot dog day with smoothie
day).
• Ensuring that teachers are educated and trained on
nutritious foods for fundraisers and healthy eating
curriculum resources.
• Working with the local health department to provide
training to parent council members on the
importance of nutritious foods and their relationship
to optimal learning and childhood development.
22
• Ensuring the promotion of nutritious foods.
• Providing special events that focus on fun and
nutritious activities combined with other healthy
lifestyle events (e.g., selling apple grams to promote
healthy eating and healthy relationships).
• Removing foods with little nutritional value from
vending machines and replacing them with healthy
snacks such as granola bars, apples, 100% fruit juices,
water, etc.
• Providing nutritious breakfast and snack programs
that follows Canada’s Food Guide for Healthy
Eating.
• Offering nutritional food choices in the school
cafeteria that will allow students to have healthier
choices.
• Working with the student health council to promote
healthy eating in our school.
• Working with local dietitians to provide programs
that support healthy eating.
The Vancouver
Island Race:
A Collaboration Between the Saanich
Peninsula Diabetes Prevention Project
and Saanich Adult Education Centre
By: Joan Wharf Higgins, Ph.D., Trina Rickert, BA, and Megan Rutherford
R
ates of diabetes among Aboriginals
in Canada are three to five times
higher than those of the general
Canadian population (Health Canada
Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative, 2003).
Aboriginal children are now being
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease
that was formally predominant in older
individuals. The proximal risk factors for
diabetes - obesity, inactivity and poor
eating habits - are also more common
among Aboriginal populations (Kriska,
Saremi, Hanson et al., 2003). Recent
evidence indicates the significance of
lifestyle interventions, particularly
culturally sensitive interventions, in
reducing incidence of type 2 diabetes in
high-risk groups (Molitch, Fujimoto,
Hamman, & Knowler, 2003; Segal,
Dalton, & Richardson, 1998). Because
of the recent epidemic of diabetes in
North America, the economic burden of
treating the disease, and the promise of
behavioural interventions to prevent or
delay its onset, there have been calls for
the primary prevention of diabetes
(Narayan, Boyle, Thompson et al., 2003;
Satterfield, Volanksy, Caspersen et al.,
2003), as well as for participatory action
research (Satterfield, Volanksy, Caspersen
et al., 2003) in well-defined communities
(Harris & Zinman, 2000) to ensure
cultural relevance of interventions
(Macaulay, Commanda, Freeman et al.,
1999).
This article will share our experience with
the “Vancouver Island Race,” a successful
walking program with First Nations
students, designed to promote a supportive,
culturally sensitive environment for the
uptake of physical activity.
The Saanich Peninsula is located on
South Vancouver Island. It is composed
of three municipalities (Central Saanich,
North Saanich, Sidney) with a total
population of approximately 40,000, and
four First Nations communities
(Tseycum,
Pauquachin,
Tsartlip,
Tsawout) with a total population of
about 2,500. The Saanich Peninsula
Diabetes Prevention Project (SPDPP)
initiated the “race” that takes place on
Vancouver Island with the Saanich Adult
Education Centre (tribal school for
Aboriginal adults). SPDPP is three-year,
participatory action research project
funded through Health Canada’s
Diabetes Prevention Strategy. It is
composed of eight inter-sectoral and
multi-disciplinary partners that aim to
strengthen community services that are
supportive of diabetes-healthy living. The
partners include representatives from
academia, public recreation, community
organizations that serve persons with low
incomes, persons with disabilities,
seniors, First Nations bands, Canadian
Diabetes Association, and the regional
health authority (nutrition, health
promotion, Aboriginal Health, diabetes
education). Over two and a half years of
the project’s implementation, fourteen
additional community partners have
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23
joined to collaborate on specific
activities, events and services.
The SPDPP embraces a health
promotion approach to chronic disease
prevention that engages multiple
stakeholders in population-based
recreation interventions (Shera, 2002) to
address multiple levels of influence on
health behaviours (Smedley & Syme,
2000). It has a “population health view”
to the prevention of type 2 diabetes to
recognize that social, economic, and
environmental factors all contribute to
health, thus avoiding the solely “lifestyle”
interventions. The Precede/Proceed
framework (Green & Kreuter, 1999) is a
health promotion and health education
planning and evaluation model. The
SPDPP used this theoretical framework
to guide its planning, implementation
and evaluation.
In February 2003, the SPDPP worked
with numerous partnering organizations
to facilitate an Open House at the
regional First Nations’ sport facility
(Figure 1). The purpose of this event was
to showcase various healthy living
programs and services that are available
to people of the First Nations bands on
the Saanich Peninsula, as well as to
perform an informal needs assessment to
be used in the creation of other
programs. In the interest of sustainability,
and based on the needs assessment and
previously identified barriers to activity
gathered through the SPDPP’s research
efforts, it was decided that the project
would support existing or developing
programs by providing incentives,
transportation, and financial support to
help these programs expand and
improve.
The Vancouver Island Race
At the Open House the project made
contact with a teacher from the Saanich
Adult Education Centre, a school
servicing First Nations adults (high
school equivalency). The teacher
expressed an interest in partnering with
the project to develop a school-wide
active living program. Throughout the
24
Figure 2 – Vancouver Island racers with
pedometers and map of Vancouver Island.
month of March 2003, project staff met
with two teachers from the school to
discuss the creation and implementation
of a walking program that would be part
of the school’s intramural program. In
April 2003, a four-week program called
the “Vancouver Island Race” was
launched (Figure 2).
The “Vancouver Island Race” involved
half of the student/teacher population at
the Education Centre - four teams of
students, teachers and administrative
staff - tracking their steps with
pedometers. A kick-off event included an
introduction of the SPDPP and the
Vancouver Island Health Authority
Aboriginal Health Team, healthy living
and diabetes prevention education, a
game of Diabetes Jeopardy, and an
introduction to the Race. Project staff
provided native food guides, physical
activity guides, activity logbooks, team
cameras, and pedometers to the
participants. Information on diabetes
and First Nations people and healthy
eating was also posted in the school. An
incentive program was developed and
prizes were distributed to:
■ Teams reaching certain mileage points
(water bottles to each team that
accumulated 200km, t-shirts to each
team that accumulated 350km, and
the first team to reach 460km kept
their pedometers),
■ Individuals that contributed the most
mileage to each team (recreation
centre drop-in passes), and
Figure 1 – First Nations Open House
■
The most enthusiastic walker (grocery
store gift certificates).
The goal of the race was to walk the
length of Vancouver Island, a distance of
460 km from Victoria to Tlatlasikwala, a
native village on the northern tip of the
island. The progress of each team was
recorded on a map of Vancouver Island,
which also displayed locations of First
Nations villages. Incredibly, the students
not only achieved their goal of “walking”
the length of the Island, they actually
surpassed it by “walking” the length of
the island two-and-half times.
Successes and Lessons Learned
A pre- and post-race questionnaire
assessed students’ knowledge of diabetes,
their self-rated level of health, and their
primary health concerns. Following the
race, a focus group with students and
interviews with teachers were also
conducted to capture their perspectives,
insights, and recommendations about the
program. The beneficial outcomes of the
Vancouver Island Race are best described
by the students/teachers themselves who
reported that walking helped to increase
the positive aspects of their lives, as well
as decrease the negative aspects by
providing a break from routines,
alleviating stress, and providing time
to think and relax. One student stated
that the race provided a “concrete
demonstration of how simple it is to
incorporate a walking routine into my daily
lifestyle.” Students in the focus group said
the program helped them to become
more aware of healthy eating, and
balancing rest and exercise. The majority
of participants reported feeling better
about themselves. One student said
“walking helped me to slow down and
notice the beauty of the surroundings and
enjoy the outdoors.” Ninety percent of race
participants reported enjoying the
competitive aspect of the program;
however ten percent of students said that
the walking “race” format did little or
nothing to encourage more physical
activity. We learned that logbooks and
cameras did not work well as data
collection tools since students stated that
documenting their activity in logbooks
“felt like homework”. Recommendations
for future programs include expanding
the variety of physical activities,
incorporating regular educational
workshops, and increasing the duration
of the program to eight or more weeks.
The Power of the Pedometer
A simple tool that motivated, enabled
and reinforced students’ and teachers’
physical activity levels was the pedometer
that was provided to each participant of
the “Vancouver Island Race.” This gave
students and teachers a benchmark of
how their daily routine translated into
physical activity, and encouraged them to
do a little more each day. Most
participants became aware of how little
physical activity was integrated into their
day, while a few were surprised at how
active they already were. One student
stated, “I can’t believe a little thing like a
pedometer can make someone walk a lot
more than before. It works though. We
should definitely do this again.” One
teacher mentioned that “the fact that
participants could see their steps was
motivating and it was reinforcing to see the
numbers [of steps] go up. The walking
program wouldn’t have worked without the
pedometers.” The use of pedometers
(Alberta Centre for Wellbeing, 2003) and
the creation of walking “clubs” (Nguyen,
Gauvin, Marineau, & Grignon, 2002)
for increasing physical activity levels,
particularly among the populations with
high rates of sedentary behaviour
(Simpson, Serdula, Galuska et al., 2003),
is supported in the literature. Our
findings add to this evidence-base that
interventions should offer simple, lowtech and enduring tools and social
support to enhance capacity for healthful
living.
The Team Format
The team format worked as a motivating
factor for individuals and in nurturing
connections among students and
teachers. It also created an environment
in which doing healthy activities was
perceived as “fun” - a word used
consistently by students and teachers to
describe the program. Teachers reported
that the program broke down barriers
between classes, teachers and students,
and strengthened relationships. The
“subtle” competition between four
“teams” of students and teachers created a
shared goal and mutual sense of
accomplishment. One student mentioned that “the team approach …where others
were working just as hard towards mutual
goals” was motivating.
Sustainability and Expansion
of the “Race”
The success of the “race” has not
been limited to teacher and student
accumulation of steps/kilometers. The
“race” format was continued and
expanded in January 2004 to an eightweek walk across Canada. The physical
activity component will be augmented by
nutritional and other health information
sessions for each month of the walk. As
well, based on the success of the program
in the adult school, one of the Saanich
Indian School Board Administrators
who was present at the Race kick-off
recommended that a similar program be
implemented at the LauWelNew Tribal
School (preschool to grade nine). Thus,
a school-wide three-month walking
program entitled S’tenist Tolw, translated
from Coast Salish as “Move Us Forward”,
was developed as a collaborative effort
between teachers, administrators, the
school nurse, the regional Aboriginal
Health Team, and project staff. The
program goal is to “walk” across Canada
in three months and was implemented in
September 2003 with the participation
of staff, students and family members.
Students receive bonus mileage for
involving family members and an
equivalency chart has been created so
students can obtain mileage for activities
other than walking (e.g. swimming,
biking, and paddling).
Conclusion
There is growing evidence that a modest
investment in recreation can save health
and social costs to society (Browne,
2003). The investment in the
“Vancouver Island Race” amounted to
approximately $15.00 per participant;
the large majority of which (purchase of
pedometers) will be reinvested and
reused in the upcoming walk across
Canada.
Through a review of project meeting
minutes and an analysis of annual
questionnaires with our partners, we have
found that an additional outcome of the
“Vancouver Island Race” has been the
enhanced understanding by project
partners of the work and influence that
each has in the community. Frequently
isolated in their disciplinary ‘silos,’ many
were unaware of the duplication or gaps
in service for the First Nations
community. Through the coordination
and collaboration of activities during the
planning and dissemination processes,
community services on- and off-reserve
are being strengthened due to combined
assets, individual program cost savings,
and a more seamless network of resources
available to students, teachers, and family
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25
members. Our experiences with planning
and implementing the “Vancouver Island
Race” suggest that respecting the
community’s own pace and style of work,
rather than catering to the priorities and
timelines of our own agendas, has
enabled us to honour a community
development orientation to planning.
Indeed, unless stakeholders work
together, strategies to address the burden
of diabetes will not be successful (BC
Ministry of Health Planning, 2002).
Now in its final year, the SPDPP is
focusing on evaluating its impact on the
lives of participants and mapping
partnerships in hopes of embedding
additional intersectoral collaboration and
activities. We know that without such
integration into the local mainstream
infrastructure, SPDPP activities are
unlikely to be sustained (Freeth, 2001).
For more information about the
project please see our website:
www.healthypeninsula.ca. ■
UPDATE
UPDATE
UPDATE
Due to the success of the Vancouver Island Race, there was great interest in
beginning a new initiative - Steps Across Canada - a virtual walk across the
country.
The program was named after the Step Games school intramural program and
also referred to the steps that would be taken in the program. Steps Across Canada
began in late fall 2003 as a friendly competition involving four teams comprised
of staff and students doing physical activity to accumulate mileage. It was
intended to be offered for eight weeks, however at the eight week mark staff and
students had reached Ontario (5127km) and wanted to work together to finish
their journey to Newfoundland (10 648km).
Over time, the school noticed attendance attrition rates since students began
attending First Nations traditional Long House activities. Therefore in February
2004, the program merged four teams into two and kept on moving toward the
finish line. In March 2004, the program had twenty-five committed participants
and decided to unite as one team to work together to complete their journey
across the country. When the team reaches their goal there will be a closing
celebration including prizes, and nutrition and diabetes education activities.
Formative evaluations with students and teachers found that the pedometers, map
of Canada (to track mileage), and the competition, teamwork and involvement of
friends and family both motivated and reinforced walking activity.
REFERENCES
Alberta Centre for Wellbeing. (2003). Watch your
step: Pedometers and physical activity.
WellSpring,14(2). Alberta: University of Alberta.
British Columbia Ministry of Health Planning &
Ministry of Health Services. (2002). Responding to
diabetes. Retrieved April 13, 2003, from
h t t p : / / w w w. h e a l t h p l a n n i n g . g ov. b c . c a /
cpa/publications/index/html
Browne, G. (2003). Making the case for youth
recreation. Ideas that Matter, 2(3), 3-8.
Freeth, D. (2001). Sustaining interprofessional
collaboration. Journal of Interprofessional Care,
15(1), 37-46.
Green, L.W., & Kreuter, M.W. (1999). Health
promotion planning, an educational and ecological
approach. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Harris, S., & Zinman, B. (2000). Primary
prevention of type 2 diabetes in high risk
populations. Diabetes Care, 23, 879-881.
Health Canada Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative
(2003). Diabetes among Aboriginal (First Nations,
Inuit and Metis) people in Canada: The evidence.
Retrieved September 10, 2003, from
h t t p : / / w w w. h c - s c . g c . c a / f n i h b / c p / a d i /
publications/the_evidence.htm
26
Kriska, A., Saremi, A., Hanson, R., Bennett, P.,
Kobes, S. et al. (2003). Physical activity, obesity,
and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in a high risk
population. American Journal of Epidemiology,
158(7), 669-675.
Satterfield, D., Volansky, M., Caspersen, C.,
Engelgau, M., Bowman, B. et al. (2003).
Community-based lifestyle interventions to
prevent type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care, 26(9),
2643-2652.
Macaulay, A., Commanda, L., Freeman, W.,
Gibson, N., McCabe, M. et al. (1999).
Participatory research maximizes community and
lay involvement. British Medical Journal, 319,
774-778.
Segal, L., Dalton, A.C., & Richardson, J. (1998).
Cost-effectiveness of the primary prevention of
non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Health
Promotion International, 13(3), 197-209.
Molitch, M.E., Fujimoto, W., Hamman, R.F.,
Knowler, W.C. (2003). The diabetes prevention
program and its global implications. Journal of the
American Society of Nephrology. (14), S103-107.
Narayan, K.M.V., Boyle, J. P., Thompson, T.J.;
Sorenson S., & Williamson, D. (2003). Lifetime
risk for diabetes mellitus in the United States.
Journal of the American Medical Association,
289(14), 1817.
Nguyen, M-N, Gauvin, L., Marineau, I., &
Grignon, R. (2002). Promoting physical activity
at the community level: Insights into health
promotion practice from the Laval walking clubs
experience. Health Promotion Practice, 3(4), 485496.
Shera, D. (2002). Improving chronic disease
management: A compelling business case for
diabetes, Report from the Diabetes Working Group.
BC: Sierra Systems.
Simpson, M., Serdula, M., Galuska,D., Gillespie,
C., Donehoo, R. et al. (2003). Walking trends
among U.S. adults. American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, 25(2), 95-100
Smedley, B.D., & Syme, L. (2000). Promoting
health: Intervention strategies from social and
behavioral research. Washington, DC: Institute of
Medicine, National Academy Press.
School Health Committees:
Making “Healthy Schools” Happen
“It’s like not having a dishwasher, and all of a sudden you get one.”
By Carol MacDougall ([email protected])
Carol MacDougall has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McGill University and is
currently completing her MA in Curriculum Studies at OISE/UT. She has worked for
12 years as a Public Health Nurse in Toronto schools (three years with school health
committees), and is now the School Health Consultant in Planning and Policy with
Toronto Public Health. She has been involved in provincial advocacy for Comprehensive
School Health since 1990, and is Co-chair of the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition
(see www.opha.on.ca/ohsc).
M
uch is written in the health and
education literature on the need
for school administrators, teachers,
parents, students, and local community
partners to collaborate to create healthy
schools and optimal conditions for
learning. Successful collaboration often
occurs around specific initiatives, such as
physical activity fundraising events and
Walk to School Days. Is there a way to
solidify collaboration for health? Is there
a way to facilitate collaboration so that it
is ongoing rather than sporadic? Is there
a way to make the concepts of
Comprehensive School Health (CSH)/
Health Promoting Schools (HPS)/
Coordinated or Comprehensive School
Health Program (CSHP) more concrete
for all school stakeholders?
Numerous sources recommend school
health committees as a means of
operationalizing partnerships to promote
healthy schools (Allensworth & Institute
of Medicine (U.S.) Committee on
Comprehensive School Health Programs,
1997; Canadian Association for Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance, n.d.; European Commission,
World Health Organization Europe, &
Council of Europe, 1999; World Health
Organization, 1996, 1997). Through
participation in these committees,
schools build their capacity to take action
to promote the physical, mental, social
and spiritual health of their school
community. In addition, through
participation in these committees,
schools come to understand the
somewhat nebulous concept of a
“healthy school”- they learn by doing.
Numerous sources also document
positive findings when schools mobilize
health committees, workgroups or teams.
These findings have included more
comprehensive planning, enhanced
linkages between health and education
for policies, programs, health activities
and coordination of health services,
improvements in student health, and a
wide range of health-related school
changes.
So how does a school go about setting up
a school health committee? Are there
lessons to be learned from public health
staff who have worked with these
committees? Five public health staff
involved with a combined total of
35 school health committees (18
elementary and 17 secondary) shared
their experiences as part of this author’s
Masters thesis research. Telephone
interviews were conducted with the four
public health nurses and health promoter
who work in three southern Ontario
public health units. Twenty-four of their
committees have been in existence from
3-13 years. This article will share some of
the relevant findings on the realities of
school health committee work.
Who are the members of school
health committees and how are
these committees started?
School health committees can be newlyformed committees or sub-committees of
existing ones such as school councils or
student councils. In elementary schools,
the principal and representative staff,
parents, students (approximately grades
3-4 and up), and public health form the
core membership of school health
committees. In some cases, other outside
agencies are also included, depending on
the issue being addressed. In secondary
schools, not surprisingly, the core
membership is primarily students, staff
SPRING
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27
and public health, although public health
cannot attend every meeting. Principals
or vice-principals attend meetings for
some secondary school committees,
while other committees liaise with
principals on an ongoing basis. Parent
involvement varies at the secondary level,
as committees are primarily student
initiatives and fewer parents tend to be
involved at this level.
Recruitment of members can occur
in a tremendous variety of ways.
Communication between public health
and principals to secure principals’
support is key to kick-starting the
process. Personal contact is most
successful, such as when principals
involve key department heads or staff, or
facilitate public health access to staff,
school councils and students. One
informant described gaining student
commitment through a regional leadership
conference. Student representatives from
local secondary schools formed a regional
student wellness committee and set up
school wellness councils in each
participating school. Some of these
secondary students spoke at assemblies in
the neighboring elementary schools to
spur interest in setting up elementary
school health committees. Other possible
approaches to recruitment include teachers
enlisting student participation, school
newsletter notices, and recruitment letters.
It is important to ensure that student
(and parent) members are truly
representative of the school population
and that they view member turnovers as
a normal occurrence. Continual recruitment keeps the committee open and
inclusive (not elitist) and keeps new
energy and ideas flowing. School health
committee partnership agreements can
be either informal or formal.
What do school health
committees do?
School health committees follow a very
straightforward process of:
• Taking stock of the health-related
strengths and needs of the school
community
• Prioritizing issues to be worked on
28
•
•
•
•
Planning action
Implementing the plan
Evaluating the outcomes, and
Celebrating successes
It is interesting to note that commitment
to a vision of a healthy school grows
gradually as successes are experienced.
The four components of the
Comprehensive School Health model
serve as an excellent guide to the areas to
examine. How effectively is our Health
and Physical Education curriculum being
delivered? Are we aware of and able to
access services from the board and local
community to promote the health of
students, staff and families in the school
community? Does our school have a
supportive social environment? How
healthy is the physical environment of
the school?
These assessments of the health of a
school can be done very informally as a
discussion within the school health
committee itself, or more formally
through surveys (such as the Health
Canada “Voices and Choices” tool or a
self-designed questionnaire), interviews,
focus groups, and suggestion boxes. In
some cases, the school knows
immediately what issue needs to be
tackled, such as increasing the physical
activity levels of the students. Once
again, the four elements of the CSH
model can serve as a guide to action. Is
there adequate time for and are
teachers comfortable with teaching the
Health and Physical Education
curriculum? Can we connect with local
recreation agencies to increase access to
physical
activity
services
and
opportunities? Can we organize events
for families and/or extracurricular
options for younger students and/or
more “active living” rather than
competitive team activities (e.g.
Ultimate Frisbee) that will foster a
supportive social environment for
physical activity? Is our physical
environment safe, e.g. safe playground
and physical education equipment?
Once a priority health issue is identified,
and creative energies are encouraged to
flow, innumerable activities can be
brainstormed and planned. Activities can
range from PA announcements and
short-term events to year-long awareness
campaigns and policy changes. Some
schools have expanded Walk to School
Days to weekly walking clubs or to
monthly whole-school walks. Students
have been instrumental in improving
cafeteria selections and organizing food
events such as BYOB (Bring Your Own
Banana). Bullying prevention campaigns
have been much more comprehensive
and included not just instructional
elements, but also training for students in
conflict resolution and peer mediation;
“Act of Kindness” days and parent
information nights to promote a
supportive social environment; and
school rules to create a safe physical
environment.
Where and when do these
committees meet?
School health committees tend to
meet on school premises and schedule
meetings at times that work best for the
majority of members. Most committees
meet during the lunch hour to ensure
significant student involvement. Some
principals allow occasional use of class
time (e.g. if students have different lunch
hours). After school meetings sometimes
work for elementary schools; evening
meetings are more rare. In some cases,
information is relayed from students
and staff who meet together in the
day, to parents who meet at night.
Communication with parents can also
occur via e-mail. Committees vary in
frequency of meetings, with the average
being monthly to every two months,
with work being done between meetings.
Some committees meet weekly or every
two weeks, and others only meet three
times per year.
What are the pitfalls to avoid with
school health committee work?
Issues of power or turf protection can
occasionally arise among the members of
the committee. It is important to agree
from the outset that input from all
members will be equally respected and
that optimal solutions or compromises
will be sought. Some power struggles
may also arise between the committee
and other school committees or staff. It is
important to secure broad support
within the school for the school health
committee from the start, and keep other
school committees and staff informed of
plans on an ongoing basis.
In order to avoid or reduce student
turnover, consider having older students
recruit junior students to come on board
and/or giving credit towards community
service hours for health committee work
done on their own time (lunch hours,
after school). Above all, be sure to
publicize and celebrate successful
initiatives so the members will experience
positive reinforcement for their work, the
impact on health awareness in the school
will be significant, and the school
identity as a healthy setting will be
strengthened.
In terms of workload, successful
committees minimize the paperwork and
focus on action and early successes.
Leadership is an important issue to
clarify. Ideally, schools need to assume
ownership of these committees, with
public health and other community
agencies as resources and partners. This
will strengthen school-wide commitment
to health. Use the full capabilities of all
members, for example, many committees
have students who do most of the work
and develop their leadership skills. Other
committees have parent chairs. Consider
including the school health committee
on the sign-up list of activities requiring
staff advisors such as teams to coach, but
be sure the contact person is a willing
volunteer.
What benefits can my school
expect if we establish a school
health committee?
Some of the benefits have included:
• Enhanced school awareness about
health — a change in the culture of the
school where health issues are more
•
•
•
•
•
•
visibly addressed and there is greater
recognition that health is important
Enhanced student voice and student
leadership development — students feel
their voices are heard and actions result
Enhanced accountability for health —
here is a place for health issues to be
tabled and a “mega-team” to plan
actions together as opposed to
individual principals, parents, teachers,
students or public health trying to
solve problems alone; health impacts
are taken into account when decisions
are made
Healthier school environment
Enhanced access to community resources
Community-building
Enhanced learning
In case you are still hesitant, you
will be comforted to know that
“overcoming fear” was an identified
finding in this research. The fear
generally revolved around concern that
nothing would happen once the school
health committee was formed. The
range of activities schools engaged in
allayed these fears very quickly. As one
public health staff stated: “Students
have insight into the issue[s]. They’re
very much there, they’re in the
schoolyard, they’re in the lunchroom,
they’re at the parties if it’s secondary.
So they have an insight that’s
particular to what’s happening in their
school, in their community, into the
culture of their peers and to that
school.” Another public health staff
who had initially chaired a school
health committee stated, “I no longer
chair it. Parents co-chaired it for two
years since. It’s still going on… [The
principal] just thinks it’s unbelievable.
He sits in awe and so do I, with what
happens there.”
Perhaps more schools will consider
providing opportunities for the voice of
students and all school partners to be
heard through school health committees.
Then schools may more widely harness
the incredible power that exists in
collaboration. ■
The author wishes to gratefully
acknowledge the valuable contributions of
the public health participants in my
Masters research, the support of my thesis
advisor, Dr. Andy Anderson, and the grant
from the Community Health Nurses
Initiatives Group [CHNIG] of the
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
[RNAO].
REF ERENCES
Allensworth, D. D. (1994). The research base
for innovative practices in school health
education at the secondary level. The Journal
of School Health, 64(5), 180-187.
Allensworth, D. D., & Institute of Medicine
(U.S.) Committee on Comprehensive School
Health Programs. (1997). Schools & health :
our nation's investment. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy Press.
Canadian Association for Health Physical
Education Recreation and Dance. (n.d.).
Quality School Health: CAHPERD's position.
Retrieved August 22, 2003, from the World
Wide Web: http://www.cahperd.ca/e/
qsh/research.htm
European Commission, World Health
Organization Europe, & Council of Europe.
(1999). The European Network of Health
Promoting Schools: The ENHPS indicators for a
health promoting school.
McBride, N. (2000). The Western Australia
School Health Project: Comparing the effects
of intervention intensity on organizational
support for school health promotion. Health
Education Research, 15(1), 59-72.
Mitchell, I., Laforet-Fliesser, Y., & Camiletti,
Y. (1997). Use of the Healthy School Profile in
the Middlesex-London, Ontario, Schools.
Journal of School Health, 67(4), 154-156.
Stokes, H., & Mukherjee, D. (2000). The
nature of health service/school links
in Australia. Journal of School Health, 70(6),
255-256.
World Health Organization. (1996). The
status of school health (WHO/HPR/HEP/
96.1). Geneva: WHO.
World Health Organization. (1997).
Promoting health through schools: Report of a
WHO expert committee on comprehensive school
health education and promotion (WHO
Technical Report Series 870). Geneva: WHO.
SPRING
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C A H PE R D R E S O U RC E S
- NEW - Healthy Bodies (Lions-Quest Canada)
In response to provincial curriculum requirements that call for specific areas to be addressed in the subject of health, Lions-Quest
Canada has developed the Healthy Bodies units. The units are grade-specific from Grade One to Five, with five lessons at each
grade level addressing topics ranging from the senses, nutrition, body systems, puberty and injury prevention.
(Available in English only)
HE-HB1-E Healthy Bodies – Grade 1 member & non-member $15.00
HE-HB2-E Healthy Bodies – Grade 2
member & non-member $15.00
Happy Heart
HE-HHM-E
member & non-member $13.50
Feel the Beat HE-FTB-E member & non-member $13.50
(Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton)
Happy Heart and Feel the Beat promote heart health for children aged 6 to 12 and 13 to 18 by educating them about heart
healthy living through fun and interactive learning activities. Children and youth will learn about the four heart health messages
of making healthy food choices, being physically active, being a non-smoker, and managing stress in a healthy way. 2000,
Paperback (Aussi disponible en français également)
HIP - Health In Perspective - 2nd Edition
A Youth-Led Approach to Healthier Lifestyles (Health Canada, CIRA)
Member Prices
HE-HIP-E One set of two (2) Guides $22.50 168 +73 pages
HE-HAG-E Additional Peer Leader’s Guides
$11.70
Non-Member Prices
HE-HIP-E One set of two (2) Guides $25.00 168 + 73 pages
HE-HAG-E Additional Peer Leader’s Guides
$13.00
The HIP Program is a peer-lead active learning program designed to help young females aged 10-15 years develop healthy
and active lifestyles. It focuses on smoking prevention and cessation through active living, respect for the environment,
and an understanding of positive ways to deal with stress. Peer Leaders deliver the program under the guidance of a
Facilitator and sponsoring organization or school.
The HIP Program includes a Facilitator’s Guide and a Peer Leader’s Guide. The Facilitator’s Guide includes background
information on the program, suggestions for program delivery, and a resource list on tobacco-prevention and cessation
resources. The Peer Leader’s Guide contains seven units. Each unit includes background information, discussion questions,
and games/activities to teach healthy lifestyles and critical life skills. (Aussi disponible en français)
Éducation à la santé (Cuerrier, Belisle, Deshaies)
HE-EAS-F membre et non-membre 45 $
Un guide d'activités integrant l'éducation à la santé et l'éducation physique, applicable en classe comme en gymnase, pour les
jeunes de 5 à 12 ans. Sont inclus : objectifs, éléments d'apprentissages, mises en situation, mots-clefs, feuilles-support et autres.
Papier, 460 pages (disponible en français seulement)
Éducation physique et à la santé (Éditions C. & C.)
HE-EPS-F Membre et Non-Membre 35 $
Ce guide d’activités pratiques est le complément du livre “Éducation à la santé” (2001) par la présentation de plus
d'une quarantaine de jeux en milieu de gymnase et applicables auprès des jeunes de 5 à 12 ans; les jeux intègrent les
connaissances essentielles en matière de santé aux activités motrices appréciées par ces jeunes. 2001, 256 pages
(disponible en français seulement)
NOUVEAU - Des choix… Pour la vie! (Campbell)
De présentation vivante et colorée, cette collection offrent des renseignements utiles et des dossiers captivants pour faciliter
la prise de décision à divers moments de la vie adolescente. Un guide d’enseignement accompagne chaque titre
(disponible en français seulement)
Bien en santé
• S’intéresse aux conséquences de la croissance et au passage à la vie adulte.
• S’intéresse à la nutrition, à la condition physique, à la gestion du stress, à la consommation
de drogues, aux abus sexuels et aux maladies transmissible sexuellement.
HE-BES1-F Bien en santé – Manuel
27,72 $
HE-VES2-F Bien en santé – Guide de l’enseignant 150,00 $
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30
www.ex celway.ca
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 31
TEACHING
SEXUAL
HEALTH
teachingsexualhealth.ca —
A new resource
By Arlene Breadner and Dee Anne S. Vonde
S
o you’re about to teach sexual health.
You have taken time to set the stage
and to assess the needs of the students in
your classroom. Teachers need up-to-date
information and resources in order
to teach sexual health education
effectively. Recognizing this, the Calgary
Health Region worked with partners
in education and health to develop
a website resource to enhance
teachers knowledge, comfort and
skills in teaching sexual health:
www.teachingsexualhealth.ca. Whether
you are teaching at the elementary or
high school level, you will find the
website to be a valuable resource.
When teaching sexual health, it is
common that many students are waiting
for the opportunity to ask questions,
while others remain silent. Teachers need
to be able to establish a climate where
students can ask questions within a safe
environment. The relationship of trust
and safety established in the room is
much more than just having the chairs in
a circle. You want to connect with your
students to allow for an exchange of
knowledge and ideas on a sensitive topic.
www.teachingsexualhealth.ca contains
many great ideas, strategies and
techniques that will help you prepare for
this challenge.
This website has been developed based
on results of a survey conducted with
teachers in the Calgary area in l998, with
the help of provincial funding and three
years of work. The survey showed that
teachers would like access to information
and resources 24 hours a day, seven days
32
a week. Research also showed that
only nine to 16% of teachers receive
any training specific to sexual health
education in their post-secondary
education (McKay, A. and Barrett,
M. l999; Tappe, M.K., Galer-Unti,
R.A., & Bailey, K.C, l977).
The website was developed with the
support and expertise of representatives
from the Calgary Health Region, the
Calgary Board of Education, Headwaters
Health Authority, the Foothills School
Division, and the Calgary Birth Control
Association. The commitment from each
of the agencies made this project
successful. Representatives came from
urban and rural areas, parents, teachers,
and health care professionals who were
dedicated to making this resource a
valuable tool for teachers everywhere.
The project also included a project
coordinator, an independent evaluator,
and a website designer.
A conceptual framework model was used
in the design that included the
Comprehensive School Health model,
Resiliency theory, and Social Learning
theories.
Figure 1 – Collaborative Partnerships
Education
Health
Urban – Calgary Board
of Education
-Health Curriculum Consultants
-Teachers
-Students
Rural – Foothills School Division
- Health Curriculum Consultant
- Teachers
- Students
Provincial – Alberta Learning
- Education/Curriculum leader
Urban – Calgary Health Region
-Project Manager
- Sexual Health Program Manager
- Sexual health nurses and educators
- clerical support
Rural – Headwaters
Health Authority
- Sexual health program manager
- Sexual health nurse
Provincial – Alberta Health
and Wellness
- 3 year funding
Community
Urban – Calgary Birth Control
Association - Executive Director
Urban and Rural - parents
Independent Evaluator
Website Designer
The website offers four key areas:
• How to Teach (curriculum and
policies, rational and background
information about sexual health,
teaching strategies, myths and
misconceptions, preparing parents
and students for the sexual health
curriculum)
• Lesson Plans (ready-to-use lesson
plans by grade and by topic,
reproducible handouts/activities,
diversity tips)
• Resources (school board and health
resources, links to other relevant
websites, teacher in-service schedules,
fact sheets, glossary)
• Teacher’s Lounge (lesson swap,
examples of student questions/
answers, responding to sensitive
issues)
Teachers that visit the site will also have
access to an online sexual health
professional (the Project Coordinator)
who can assist them with questions about
preparation and resources for the class.
Additionally, the online sexual health
professional will give direction to the
teacher concerning student questions or
issues that arise from the classroom. The
email questions are answered within five
working days. Because the website
partners believe in the shared responsibility of parents, schools, and the
community in providing children with
effective sexual health education, it also
offers sub-sites for parents and students.
Parents and students visiting the site are
given information, resources, and links to
supplement their understanding and
knowledge of health sexuality.
Since the launch in November 2002, we
have received comments such as: “This is a
goldmine”, “This is an excellent resource....
the best I’ve seen since teaching sexuality
20 years ago.” We would like to hear from
you, too!
For more information:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the
visioning and leadership of Janet Wayne,
Project Manager and Jillian Brodeur,
previous Project Coordinator. We would
like to thank the Calgary Health Region for
their initiative and support, and the many
people and agencies who dedicated their
time and talents to the project.
REF ERENCES
McKay, A. & Barrett, M. (1999). Pre-service
sexual health education training of elementary,
secondary, and physical education teachers in
Canadian faculties of education. The
Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 8(2),
91-101.
Tappe, M.K. Galer-Unti-R.A. & Bailey, K.C.,
(1995) March-April. Evaluation of trained
teachers implementation of a sex education
curriculum. Journal of Health Education,
28(2), 103-8.
Figure 2 – Timeline for Sexuality Website Project Development
Prefunding Phase:
Nov. 2000 – July 2001
Phase 1 – Research:
July 2001 – Sept. 2001
Phase 2-Development:
Sept. 2001 – Nov. 2001
Phase 3 Implementation:
Nov. 2003 – Dec. 2003
Teacher survey reassessed
Partnership established
Proposal for funding submitted
Funding received (March)
Steering Committee developed
Project Coordinator and
Website Evaluator hired
Stakeholder collaboration
and visioning
Literature, web and
resource scan
Theoretical framework
development
Website designer hired
Focus groups
Working resource groups
Content development
Teacher, parent and student pilots
Official launch
Marketing and promotion
Sustainability
Evaluation
SPRING
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PRINTEMPS 2004
33
À l’école Le Trillium,
ça marche!
Par Danielle Proulx-Laniel and
Claudine Pedneault
Danielle Proulx-Laniel, Enseignante à l’école publique
Le Trillium depuis plus de six ans au niveau du
curriculum santé. Baccalauréat en éducation physique,
baccalauréat en éducation, maîtrise en éducation
physique.
Claudine Pedneault, infirmière en santé publique à la
Ville d’Ottawa au niveau du partenariat École en
santé à l’école Le Trillium depuis plus de deux
ans.Baccalauréat en sciences infirmières.
Le comité École en santé de l’école élémentaire
publique Le Trillium résulte d’un partenariat entre
l’école, le département de santé publique de la Ville
d’Ottawa, le département des sciences infirmières de
l’Université d’Ottawa, les parents et le coordonnateur
de la Maison des jeunes. Au printemps 2000, le Comité
menait un sondage et une campagne auprès des
parents, des élèves et du personnel pour souligner
l’importance d’améliorer la condition physique des
élèves, de les sensibiliser à une saine alimentation et de
rehausser leur estime de soi.
Le comité École en santé a toujours
cherché à mobiliser les élèves et le
personnel de l’école pour les inciter à la
pratique d’activités physiques communes
peu coûteuses ou gratuites, avec peu ou
pas d’équipement, et ne requérant aucun
transport. C’est ainsi, par exemple,
qu’une fois par mois, les 353 élèves, le
personnel enseignant, la direction, des
parents et des invités de marque (comme
M. et Mme Olsen, un couple d’Ottawa
qui a parcouru le Canada à pied!) font
une marche d’une heure. Cette activité se
déroule dans une ambiance de détente
ponctuée de rires!
Avec les années, d’autres activités se sont
ajoutées, comme le club de marche du
dîner, les activités sportives du midi au
gymnase, les marches familiales, le club
de cyclisme et de raquetteurs, le
badminton du matin des enseignantes et
enseignants, ainsi qu’une participation à
diverses activités communautaires qui
bougent, dont certaines découlent de
suggestions d’élèves! L’école encourage
Cette activité
se déroule dans
une ambiance
de détente
ponctuée
de rires!
aussi de saines habitudes alimentaires en
publiant des articles sur la santé dans le
bulletin mensuel Le Trillium en route...,
en organisant des stands d’information à
l’intention des parents et en vérifiant
régulièrement le contenu des boîtes à
goûter des élèves. Grande nouveauté
cette année : la mise en oeuvre du
programme Promotions des conduites
pacifiques qui incite les élèves à résoudre
leurs conflits de façon non violente.
Pour faire connaître ses activités dans
le milieu, l’école fait appel aux médias
écrits et visuels. C’est ainsi que, lors de
la marche intergénérationnelle du 1er
octobre 2003 organisée dans le cadre de
la semaine Au pas Ottawa, la télévision, la
radio et la presse écrite locales étaient de
la partie.
D’année en année, le taux de
participation des élèves augmente et les
jeunes en demandent toujours plus. Ils
font preuve d’initiative en suggérant
d’augmenter la fréquence des marches du
midi et en proposant de nouvelles
activités comme le club de cyclisme. En
outre, les membres de la communauté
veulent être tenus au fait des activités à
venir et les parents sont fiers d’envoyer
leurs enfants à une école qui a tant à cœur
la santé des jeunes. Au fil des ans,
l’activité physique est devenue un
véritable mode de vie à l’école. Plus on
bouge, plus on veut bouger!
Que recommander à ceux et celles qui
rêvent de lancer un projet École en santé?
Engager la participation de tous les
éléments de l’école, trouver des
partenaires co mmmunautaires qui
valorisent vraiment la santé des élèves et
répartir équitablement les tâches. Plus
encore, savourer et célébrer tous les
succès et ne jamais perdre de vue qu’il
faut débuter modestement et viser
grand!
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 35
GOING
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Right To Play
Sarah Clappison, Senior Officer Athlete Relations, [email protected]
R
ight To Play is an athlete-driven,
humanitarian, non-governmental
organization (NGO) committed to
improving the lives of the most
disadvantaged children and their
communities through Sport for
Development. Sport for Development
evolved out of the growing evidence that
strengthening the right of children to
play enhances their healthy physical and
psychosocial development, and builds
stronger communities.
Right To Play works with refugee
populations, war affected children, and
children who have been orphaned by
HIV/AIDS. Programs also address the
rights of women, girls, and the disabled.
Programs have been implemented in
Afghanistan, Angola, Belize, Benin,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Israel,
Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal,
Pakistan, Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra
Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand,
Uganda, and Zambia. Right To Play
delivers its programs through a unique
volunteer system that includes sending
teams of volunteers to introduce and
initiate programs and to train local adults
to assume ownership and management of
the programs over the long term. This
transfer of skills and knowledge to
committed local members ensures greater
opportunity for sustainability.
A wide network of Olympic and
professional athletes donate their time to
Right To Play in order to give back
through sports. These athletes inspire
children, help raise our profile at
the local and international levels, and help
to attract potential program supporters.
The Right To Play President and CEO is
Johann Olav Koss, a four time gold
medallist. Athlete Ambassadors include
Wayne Gretzky, Silken Laumann,
Dikembe Mutombo, Marion Jones,
A wide network of
Olympic and
professional athletes
donate their time
to Right To Play in
order to give back
through sports.
Daniel Igali, Haile Gebrselassie, Tegla
Loroupe, Ian Thorpe and many more.
Right To Play partners with many international organizations and local
community agencies to ensure a
collaborative effort and to pool all
available resources. This includes the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees,
UNICEF, UNESCO, the International
Labour Organization, WHO, Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization,
CARE International, The Vaccine Fund,
American Red Cross, and the Global
Measles Initiative.
Right To Play’s Programs
Currently, Right To Play implements
two programs: SportWorks and Sport
Health. These programs are largely
funded by a number of governments
including the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the US
Department of State USAID, the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Royal Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation.
The SportWorks Program
SportWorks’ aims to:
(a) Enhance healthy child development
through specially designed sport and
play activities,
(b) Develop individual and community
capacity by establishing community
structures and building local community ownership.
Child Development
SportWorks was developed in
recognition that well designed sport and
play programs put children on a positive
path to healthy development. Specifically, the programs help foster three
key protective factors in the well-being
of children: resilience, a meaningful
connection to adults, and a sense of
safety and security. SportWorks also
teaches important values and life skills
including self-confidence, teamwork,
communication, inclusion, discipline,
respect and fair play.
Community Development
In the field of international development,
we have learned that communities can
often generate the best responses to local
problems. For this potential to come to
fruition, community members need to
develop a range of skills, self-confidence,
as well as connections among their
community members, both adults
and children. SportWorks integrates
coaching, leadership, and project management training for local adults and
emphasizes local participation in, and
commitment to, assuming ownership of
the programs to ensure sustainability. In
addition, the SportWorks program,
promotes the development of sporting
infrastructure including sport councils,
leagues, facilities and equipment
production. These initiatives help achieve
development goals as people learn to take
charge of their own future and
understand the positive impact they can
have on the community at large.
The SportHealth Program
The Right To Play SportHealth program
has the same objectives as SportWorks,
while using the convening power of sport
to provide health education and
encourage healthy lifestyle behaviours at
the national level -- specifically to teach
the importance of vaccinations,
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria prevention.
SportHealth was established in 2002
after a successful test launch in Accra,
Ghana in 2001. SportHealth volunteers
are based in urban centers and, in
addition to running sport and play
programs through schools, youth groups
and other outlets, are responsible for
implementing a social mobilization
campaign around important national
health issues. When we look at the strong
links between health, development and
sport, we see the opportunity to address
health priorities of vaccinations,
nutrition, hygiene, malaria, HIV/AIDS,
maternal care and to improve overall
health and well-being. In partnership
with local and international government
and non-governmental agencies, these
social mobilization campaigns are
centered on delivering health messages
using the convening and carrying power
of sport and play. Volunteers leverage the
love of sport and the draw of local sports
heroes working with Right To Play to
draw attention to important health
messages, encourage behaviour change,
and increase participation at special sport
and health–centered events. These events
could include sports festivals with
immunization clinics (in cooperation
with a national immunization campaign)
and play days that include HIV/AIDS
education.
Reaching our Goals in Child and Community Development –
Stories from the Field
A Focus of Building Community
Capacity – A Story from Benin
The SportWorks Program was initiated in Kpomasse
Refugee Camp in September of 2001. After 18 months of
Right To Play program implementation, there are promising
indicators of increased community capacity and
sustainability that are reflected in the high levels of activity
and community ownership which have become the
foundation of the sport and play program in Kpomasse
Refugee Camp.
Right To Play’s training program for local volunteers in
Kpomasse has been designed to enhance community
capacity in areas of coaching, project management,
equipment/facilities maintenance and fiscal responsibility. A
Project Management Course also began in August of 2002
with the purpose of imparting the skills that would be
required by the local coaches to design and manage their
own sport and play programs. This course has met with
tremendous success, with graduates now given
organizational and budgetary responsibilities for special
events and particular program activities.
With the support of Right To Play, the refugees of Kpomasse
have learned to become self-sufficient through skills and
leadership training, income-generating activities, and small
business endeavors.
Among Kpomasse’s many sport and play activities, two
specific initiatives have gained great community momentum
– the Women’s Program and the Red Ball Child Play
House League.
The Women’s Program originally began as a means for the
women of the camp to meet and discuss any issues related to
health, children, family and physical recreation, and is now
running independently of Right To Play, with only
intermittent attendance by a Right To Play project
coordinator. The women now meet twice a week to stretch,
talk, laugh, relax and share their stories and experiences with
each other, and are regularly encouraging more and more
women to join the group.
The Red Ball Child Play House League has inclusion as its
guiding principle. All children in the camp between the ages
of five and 18, regardless of gender, ability or race, have been
assigned to one of five teams. Participants can win points for
their respective teams through sport and play activities, with
team spirit and cooperation playing a major role in all
activities. This League has created a strong sense of community
among the children of Kpomasse.
Focus on Inclusion - A Story from Pakistan
When Right To Play arrived in Kacha Gari, Pakistan, girls in
the area were unable to participate in play and sport activities
because they were not allowed to show themselves in public
while playing or exercising. At the same time, there were no
schools for these girls.
In response, Right To Play and Insan Foundation-Pakistan
(IFP) set up a system of tents (on land donated by the local
community) that enabled the establishment of both a girl’s
school, where they could receive formal instructions, and a
place where they could participate in sport and play activities.
Right To Play’s SportWorks program was introduced as part
of the school curriculum with a strong focus on teaching
basic hygiene and personal health.
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 37
Stories from the Field
Focus on Sustainability - A Story from Guinea
Right To Play programs are transferred to local volunteers
who, once trained by Right To Play volunteers, sustain
programs over the long term. The success and sustainability
of the programs was recently highlighted by dedicated
Liberian refugees in Danane, Cote d’Ivoire.
Due to the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, many Liberian refugees
were displaced, a great number to UNHCR refugee camps
in the N’Kerekore area of Guinea. A group of Right To Play
trained Liberian coaches carried with them, on the long trek
to their new home (51 km by foot), the training and
program materials Right To Play had given them. Upon
arrival, they immediately set about connecting with local
Right To Play volunteers and coordinating programs for the
children and the community. Today, these same coaches are
leading workshops to train more coaches, organize play days,
and work with the children on a day-to-day basis ensuring
the benefits of sport and play continue to be offered to their
refugee community.
Focus on Knowledge Transfer – A Story from Tanzania
The success of Right To Play volunteer project coordinators
in creating an atmosphere that encourages participation and
engages the interest within Lukole A + B refugee camps has
been evident during 2002. Throughout the year, Right To
Play implemented various programs that provided training
for teachers, and sport and play activities for children.
In preparation for a major Play Day that was staged in all
schools in both refugee camps, a group of 30 teachers were
trained by Right To Play to help facilitate the activities. With
close to 24,000 children participating between the two
camps, the Play Day paved the path for the inclusion of play
sessions to occur within the schools regularly between April
and June.
In addition, Right To Play volunteers sent 15 teachers to
Kibondo to participate in the Red Ball Child Play teacher
training course. During 2002, Specialized Coach Training
witnessed a graduation of 117 coaches (52 females) in
Athletics, Football and Netball. The camps have benefited
from various organized sport events including an inter-school
football league between June and July held for 520 children
and Track and Field Carnival for almost 200 children.
The best job in the world
By Right To Play Volunteer Project Coordinator: Gregory McDonald
I
stepped into the Mwange Refugee
Settlement in Mporokoso, Zambia on
Saturday, November 23rd 2002. From
the moment I drove down the 2 km road
leading to the entrance I felt like I was
back where I belong. Nine months
earlier, I had finished a volunteer position
with Right To Play in Kasulu, Tanzania.
This first glimpse into a refugee camp has
changed my life.
Every minute I was back in my safe,
lavished confines of Canada, among
friends and family inquiring about the
many stories of my experiences in
Tanzania, I felt homesick for the
community I had left. I was constantly
longing for the day I could return to this
amazing continent. This was strange, as
38
Canada had always been my home. But
in my short six months in Africa, it also
became a home to me. It’s hard to explain
how I have changed after being a Right
To Play volunteer, except to say I
rediscovered why I loved being a coach
and helping others (which I seemed to
have lost in my busy life of University).
The opportunity to start over again,
transferring the years of knowledge I have
been taught through my experiences as a
student, player, teammate and coach, was
almost as exciting as the first time.
From the first moment I saw the “watoto”
(Swahili for children), I knew I was back
where I could make a difference. The
children are generally afraid of the
Mazungo (Swahili for white foreigner),
and to be a person that can gain their trust
and have them jumping along beside you
is one of the greatest moments you could
ever experience. This is especially true
when you consider that trust is something
most of the adults still have not given to
any individual in the three years they have
been living as refugees in the safe confines
of Zambia. After one short week of being
in the camp, I could not drive or walk in
the village without having kids saying
‘hello, good morning’. These simple
moments make me realize the importance
of my volunteer position. These children
are the key to the community’s survival
and will hopefully become the leaders
of a peaceful reconstruction of their
homeland, the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
After one short week of being in the
camp, I could not drive or walk in the
village without having kids saying
‘hello, good morning’. These simple
moments make me realize the
importance of my volunteer position.
“Our car is here, our car is here!” Each
morning as we enter the camp, the
children begin to chant to us. Most of
them are not used to having a ‘Mazungo’
focusing on them. They all come
running and start to cling to us. It is quite
hard to walk when you have four kids on
each arm and a couple hanging onto your
legs. The surrounding adults just laugh
when they see the kids all over us. They
know that we are here for their children,
as well as the whole community.
It is always hard to leave the camp each
day. Even though at times you are so
exhausted that when you get home and
are too tired to eat, you realize you have
had the privilege of contributing to and
witnessing the development of the
children you are helping. There is
nothing like having a 7-year old boy
beating a group of adult teachers in the
game of Memory. Every day there is
something new; nothing is ever the same,
and each day that passes is another day of
knowledge being transferred. It is a great
feeling to pass on knowledge. It is the
feeling that you are making a difference
in people’s lives.
doing in the camp. We were promoting
the idea of volunteerism, something that
was totally foreign to many of his
Congolese brothers. He said that the kids
absolutely loved us here - as he looked at
the ten children peaking through the
window. He spoke of how much Right To
Play had made a difference in Mwange.
He told me that I have shown other youth
in that camp that age means nothing and
that we are role models not only for the
children but also the adults in the camp.
By this time I was holding back my tears,
and then he let out the most profound
statement I have ever heard:
“I am an old Congolese and have seen
many ‘Mazungo’ in my country. Many
have I seen, and they only come for our
diamonds and gold. You have come to
Mwange for OUR diamonds” he then
slowly pointed his old finger to the
children in the window. “You are our
Rafiki (friend in Kiswahili), you are my
brother Gregoire.”
Now every time I need a source of
motivation, I think of the old Bwana and
his words keep me focused and
energized. His words have become my
mission statement “our children, the
Congolese Diamonds”.
Working in refugee camps you hear or
witness some of the most tragic and
heartbreaking stories of people losing
homes, family and a sense of community.
Then a small child reaches up to hold your
hand as you walk down the street, not
saying a word but with the biggest smile
on his face. This is what being a Right To
Play volunteer is all about. I have the best
job in the world! I do not know if
anything will ever compare to this for the
rest of my life. I can only hope so…
Right To Play’s international headquarters is located in Toronto, Canada and
has national offices in the United States, Norway, the Netherlands, and
Switzerland. Right To Play is a leader in the world of children’s sport and play.
In addition to its child development programs, Right To Play is an international
During my time in the Mwange Refugee
Settlement, I was called into a private
meeting with the head refugee of the
camp. This meeting was the surprise of
my life. He started by telling me that he
really appreciated everything that we were
advocate on behalf of every child’s right to play and is actively involved in
research and policy development in this area. Our aim is to engage leaders on
all sides of sport, business and media to ensure every child’s right to play.
Visit www.righttoplay.com.
SPRING
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PRINTEMPS 2004 39
Positively Powerful!
By Christine Preece
– Student Wellness Councils
Christine Preece is a Health Promotion Officer at the Community Health Services Department at the County
of Lambton. She works in the area of school health and has served as a staff advisor for the past 12 years to the
Lambton County Student Wellness Committee. Her expertise is with youth engagement and youth empowerment.
[email protected]
Y
outh engagement can be a valuable
tool for health promoting schools and
when students are given the opportunity,
they can be positively powerful!
For many school-aged children and youth,
being involved with school health and
being allowed to make decisions that
affects them is very important. Students
not only want to be heard, they want to be
able to take action.
Lambton County students have been able
to do just that thanks to individual student
wellness councils that are directly linked to
a community group called the Lambton
County Student Wellness Committee.
In 1994, the Lambton County Student
Wellness Committee (LCSWC) was
formed because the students involved in
the local wellness councils wanted an
opportunity to network and share ideas
with other schools. They also cited the
desire “to meet at a non-competitive level.”
LCSWC consists of representatives from
most of the area secondary schools, and has
been instrumental in bringing new ideas
about health promotion strategies in the
schools. It serves as an effective mechanism
to brainstorm and share ideas for action
plans within the school and community.
LCSWC has taken on other projects such
as advocating for a community youth
action centre, hosting Christmas parties for
needy children, and providing focus tests
for a provincial campaign targeting heavy
youth drinking.
Back row, left to right: Kolby Pugh, Jessica Ireland, Tamara Eyre.
Front row, left to right: Kathleen McTavish, Aaron Core.
At the school level, the student wellness
council makes the healthy school become a
reality. It is a student led council that
includes one teacher advisor, a health unit
representative, and a parent. Together, this
Council works to promote healthy
behaviours and to develop a healthy school
environment. Each council assesses the
health needs of its school community,
identifies priorities, and then plans health
promotion strategies and activities that
build skills and knowledge. The teacher
advisor is a critical component of a
successful Student Wellness Council. The
teacher acts as a liaison between the student
wellness council and the school
administration, but more importantly
guides the students in setting goals,
objectives, and strategies.
Those involved with wellness councils
report it as a positive experience. Whether
it is advocating for a community smoke
free by-law, assisting with the development
of a healthy eating policy for their school,
evaluating an annual conference, working
towards a safer school environment or
incorporating a common physical activity
time for all children to be active, these
initiatives have allowed the students to use
important skills such as decision-making,
conflict resolution, organization, and
evaluation.
Sena Agadouwa, the Chair of the 20022003 Lambton County Student Wellness
Committee and Chair of the Northern
Collegiate Student Wellness Council,
states: “we have been given the opportunity
to deal with health issues that are
important to us, not to what adults think
they should be, and we can make
meaningful decisions that are put into
action.” Anita Lathia, a past wellness
council member states: “after being on my
student wellness council and the Lambton
County Student Wellness Council, I
realized just how important health is and
the part it plays in our lives, and that is why
I am working towards the goal of
becoming a pediatrician.”
The LCSWC and the individual school
wellness councils have implemented many
creative projects over the past ten years. In
new te
si
b
e
w
the fall of 2003, students developed a
creative activity that would highlight the
importance of wellness during the first part
of the school year. As a result, the first
Lambton County Student Wellness Week
was developed. Seventeen schools
registered for the event and were supplied
with a resource kit, supplies, and incentives
to run the week long event. A media
conference was held with local dignitaries
(including many politicians) to highlight
the importance that school health plays in
our community. The media conference
involved a healthy breakfast launch that
was held at one of the local secondary
schools. The students led the participants
through various activities that reflected
the themes of each day: healthy eating,
physical activity, anti-bullying, environment, and the importance of sleep.
Student wellness councils have now
become part of the area schools
infrastructure in Lambton, and are well
known in Sarnia-Lambton. This is thanks
to the student leaders and the passionate
staff advisors that have made it happen.
The councils work closely and effectively
with many outside community agencies.
They were recently awarded the
Community Building Asset Award for
their quality work in this area.
It has been said, many times, that young
people need to be empowered in order to
make a difference in our lives, especially
when it pertains to their health. They learn
best from their peers and are influenced by
their peer’s actions. Young people, when
organized and equipped with a vision for
change, are a powerful force. When they
correspond together and organize, they can
change their conditions and can
understand their own power as effective
leaders. Organization by youth can both
change young people’s understanding of
their own role in the health of society, as
well as change their health conditions. Of
course young people continue to need
adults, but the nature of that need is
evolving in a way that makes possible a
more equitable youth/adult partnership.
This partnership has happened in
Lambton County, and these positively
powerful youth will continue to do
wonderful things for health promoting
schools. ■
A Snapshot of
Great Canadian Ideas
Along with homes and communities, schools are an
important site for influencing the nutrition and physical
activity habits of students. In response to increased concern
about the health status of young people and the connections
between student's physical health and academic
achievement, interest is growing in strategies used by schools
to promote student health.
Researchers at the University of New Brunswick in
partnership with Health Canada have launched a website
which was designed to provide interested individuals and/or
groups with valuable resources to facilitate their efforts
to improving physical education, physical activity
and/or healthy eating in schools.
Please visit www.unb.ca/spans
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 45
A COMMUNITY APPROACH TO SCHOOL HEALTH
Corporations, Collaboration and
Cooperation – A model that works!
By Linda Millar, Vice President, Education, Concerned Children’s Advertisers
I
t seems like not a day goes by when we
aren’t bombarded by new information
that presents yet another area of concern
for our children. More than ever before,
our kids are becoming the center
of attention for impending health
crises. Take the following headlines, for
example:
‘Kids in Crisis’
‘Childhood Obesity on the Rise’
‘Designer Drugs Take on New Status With
Young People’
‘Childhood Stress Reaches All Time High’
Not that many years ago, headlines like
these were few and far between. Today,
they appear to be everyday ‘news.’
Whose job is it to address
these issues?
As educators, an important question to
ask ourselves is “what is expected of us in
relation to these issues considering the
extensive time we spend with children on
a daily basis?”
■
■
■
Is it our job to educate all children to the
dangers of certain lifestyles and habits?
Is it our job to provide all children with
realistic goals and targets for a safe and
healthy future?
Is it up to us to provide children with
actionable tips and tools to help them to
navigate their way through the challenges
they face as they grow?
Yes, as educators, we are responsible for
providing the best possible education for
all children that will help them grow to
46 ÉDUCATION PHYSIQUE ET SUR LA SANTÉ
be healthy, contributing citizens. Yes, we
have more access to children than their
parents and health care professionals, and
that does carry with it some added
responsibility. Yes, by the very nature of
our jobs, we want our students to be
healthy, safe and responsible.
Do we need to do all this alone?
No. The healthy growth and development of our children is a shared
responsibility. In addition to our diligent
efforts within the four walls of the
classroom, we need the support and the
resources from parents, caregivers,
communities and all those who play a
role in a child’s support system.
How do we engage this help?
Increasingly, communities and corporations are answering the call on their
own. Federal, provincial and municipal
governments are establishing policies and
setting up task forces to address areas of
concern. Parent Councils are identifying
ways to support program development
within their school community. Police
officers, public health experts, and other
community service groups are offering
their services as resource people. All of
this is important, but does it work?
Leading By Examplea success story
Established in 1990, Concerned
Children’s Advertisers (CCA) is a nonprofit organization that consists of 25
Canadian companies that market their
products, services and programs to
Canadian children and their families.
CCA is a unique consortium that is the
only one of its kind and came together
with the following mission statement:
‘To be the credible, caring and
authoritative voice of responsible
children’s advertising and communications as part of a shared
social responsibility to provide
Canadian children and their
families with the tools to be media
and life wise’.
By using the collective resources, skills
and influences of members, governments, educators, issue experts,
broadcasters, agencies, and production
houses, CCA creates and implements
initiatives that will educate empower and
benefit the children of Canada.
Since 1990, CCA has worked with issue
experts such as Health Canada, the
National Crime Prevention Center,
Canadian Heritage, and individual
experts such as Barbara Colorosso,
Dr. Wendy Craig and Dr. Debra Peplar
to identify the key issues affecting our
children. CCA then engages advertising
agencies to produce Public Service
Announcements (PSAs) directed to
Canadian children. Broadcasters across
Canada air these PSAs regularly during
their TV programming. The best part is
that all of this is done for free.
CCA goes a step further by developing
comprehensive lesson plans for
are right for them” and “talks to kids
about things that really matter in their
lives”
• 95% of kids thought CCA “helps kids
a lot”
What is the Next Initiative?
Kindergarten to Grade 8 students on
each of the issue topics as well as tips,
tools and strategies for parents. Bilingual
CD ROMs are distributed to educators
and parents during keynotes and
workshops that take place right across
Canada, as well as on the CCA website.
The lesson plans are endorsed by the
Canadian Teacher’s Federation, the
Canadian Home and School Federation,
and the Canadian Association of
Principals, and are designed to align with
provincial curriculum objectives in the
areas of health, language, and media
literacy.
What’s it all about?
Since 1990, CCA has produced over 40
child directed PSA’s and accompanying
teacher and parent materials on the
following topics:
• Substance Abuse Prevention
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Girl’s Self Esteem
• Boys’ Self Esteem
• Active Living
• Physical Bullying
• Psychological Bullying
• Media Literacy
Why is CCA doing this?
The interesting point about this model,
and what makes it such a great example
of how several organizations can work
together towards a common goal, is that
the partners are involved for all of
the right reasons. They have a
passion for children. They have a
concern for the health of children.
Most importantly, many of them
are parents themselves, and see the
need to join forces to contribute in
whatever way they can to ensure the
healthy and safe development of our kids.
No marketing products go into the
schools and no company names reach the
kids. CCA is the only affiliated
association, and is recognized by their
exclamation mark logo.
How do we know that it works?
As with any attitudinal based issue, the
long-term results derived over the next
few years will tell the tale. CCA has
engaged research firms to determine if
the ads are resonating with kids. They
determine if kids understand the issues
and feel a ‘call to action’. So far,
the results are very re-affirming! Over the
past two years of research:
• 86% of kids report having seen at least
one CCA TV commercial
• 73% of kids thought that the CCA
“helps kids with problems/choices/
safety” and/or “educates kids about
drugs, smoking, bad stuff”
• 94% of kids said the CCA “talks to
kids about how to make choices that
Presently, CCA is engaged with a series of
educator, parent and community
partners, including CAHPERD, to
address the issue of childhood obesity
and related chronic, preventable disease.
Having identified physical activity,
healthy eating and media literacy as the
three key ‘pillars’, this project will be a
multi-faceted, multi-year program that
will provide Canadian groups with
actionable strategies to help promote
healthy living initiatives with our young
people. A PSA will be launched in early
fall of 2004. The classroom, parent, and
community materials will be available
in Fall 2004. CCA will participate in
comprehensive workshops and plenarys
at provincial or regional professional
development days to help audiences use
the materials more effectively.
Conclusion
Concerned Children’s Advertisers is not
the only example of a cooperative
partnership between educators, parents,
corporations and community, but it does
serve as an example of how effective and
helpful community-based partnerships
can be. As educators, we care about our
students and want to provide them with
all of the tools possible to help them
achieve their personal bests. With more
responsibility but less time, resources and
money, educators will the programs
produced by CCA to be effective, easy to
use, and extremely helpful to ‘reach’ and
‘teach’ and our children.
For more information on Concerned Children’s
Advertisers or to book a workshop, please contact:
Linda Millar, Vice President, Education, [email protected]
or visit our website at: www.cca-kids.ca
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004 47
HEALTHY SCHOOL PROFILE
A Testament of Comprehensive
School Health Success, Alberta
Many initiatives have started in
Calgary because of the
Comprehensive School Health
(CSH) approach that was first
introduced to the region in
1993. CSH is a partnership
between the Calgary Board of
Education, Calgary Catholic
School District, Rocky View
School Division, and Calgary
Health Region. It provides
opportunities within schools for
all stakeholders (students, staff,
parents and community) to
work together to help address
health issues that prevent
learning and to promote the
health and wellness of the school
community.
Action plans are developed within the
framework of the three-fold CSH model
(Fig 1).
1 Curriculum: to strengthen and
enrich the curriculum through the
integration of meaningful health
instruction and enhanced teaching
resources.
2 Healthy School Environment: to
develop a health-supporting environment within the school and its
community to enable and reinforce
the promotion of health-enhancing
behaviours.
3 Health & Community Services: to
form strong partnerships with the
whole community to ensure optimal
physical, social and emotional
development and access to needed
prevention, protection and intervention services.
48
Figure 1. Comprehensive School Health (CSH) Model
Healthy School
Environment
Health & Community
Services
Working Together
Curriculum
Each CSH school puts the model into
practice by adapting the model to what
already works in their school
and identifying strengths and desired
next steps.
One CSH elementary school has
demonstrated its commitment to school
health. During the first year, a needs
assessment clearly showed three areas to
focus on: Mental/Emotional Wellbeing,
Nutrition, and Active Living. In response,
an Active Living Council, various
nutrition programs, and anti-violence/
anti-bullying programs were initiated.
This school has also focussed on
enhancing staff relations to encourage
respectful staff behaviours. Now in its
fifth year with CSH, it has moved
successfully from capacity building to
sustaining mode by having strong
administrative commitment, engaging
support from community and health
resources, and recognizing that CSH is an
approach to pulling school programs
together.
Another example is a CSH high school
that has formed a Health Action
Committee, comprised of students, the
assistant principal, staff, public health
nurse, school resource constable and
parents, to develop action plans on
Substance Abuse, Sexuality and Healthy
Lifestyle. It began when students were
volunteering at a nearby elementary
school and were disturbed by the
behaviours of boys towards girls. Wanting
to help these younger students develop
more positive behaviours, they created a
Health in Perspective Program to present
each week over the lunch hour. This
program continues to evolve and is now
also being offered to junior high schools.
Under the guidance and support of
school personnel, motivated students are
building student awareness, bringing
about attitude changes, and sharing their
knowledge and skills to other school
communities.
Implementing action plans in a
comprehensive approach with the three
components of the CSH model has
proven to be successful in promoting the
health and wellness of the school
community. In the words of one action
committee member, “one creative idea
opens a window of more creative ideas…”
The extraordinary accomplishments by
all involved with CSH are a shining
example for others to follow.
Cheryl Macleod,
[email protected]
Grosvenor School’s Comprehensive
School Program, Manitoba
As part of the 2002-2004 school
plan, students, staff and community
will participate in a Comprehensive
School Health Program that
incorporates physical, social, intellectual, and emotional well being of
all participants.
Teachers Role
The Comprehensive School Health Program
is developed and delivered by classroom
teachers, with assistance from the physical
education teacher.
Comprehensive School Health Program
(CSH) is embedded in the School Culture
The program is part of a three-year school
plan. We are currently in our second year of
the program and things are running smoothly.
Many of the programs have been in the school
for the past six years, such as community
service and the gross motor program, but
many have been developed due to our focus
on CSH. After the three-year trial has come to
an end, we anticipate CSH will be a
sustainable part of the school culture.
Community Partners
The Winnipeg School Division employs a
Health Education Consultant and a Physical
Education Consultant. Both are available to
provide ongoing support, resources and
consultation. The Division provides mandatory
training sessions in Family Life Education and
Drug Education. The Division offers professional development on the Health and Physical
Education Curriculum, as well as workshops on
a variety of other health education areas
including nutrition education, body image,
weight preoccupation, and Lions Quest.
The Winnipeg School Division has developed
resources to support the health portion of the
curriculum. These resources include a
comprehensive Drug Education Kit for use
with students in Kindergarten - Senior 4, and
Experiences for Students/Teachers/Community
1. Daily Physical Education.
2. Monthly calendar of events related to health/physical education. (September-Personal Development,
Recycling Program, Corn Roast with Parents and Community, etc.)
3. Teacher In-services related to physical education/health education, including Yoga, Curriculum in Motion
(teaching core curricula in an active way), Health/PE curriculum overview.
4. Yoga For All – All students can participate in Yoga every Friday at noon. Teachers are also able to join Yoga
on Mondays after school.
5. “15 Minutes of Fitness” every second day - Students and Teachers participate in 15 minutes of fitness every
second day from 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Activities include: shuttle run in hall or gym, skipping, sittercize, dancing,
creative movement to music, aerobics, boot camp drill sergeant says, activity cards, community walks, dodge
ball outdoors, 4-corner, etc.
6. Community involvement programs, including a newsletter focus on Comprehensive School Health with articles
on school health theme of the month, healthy recipes, useful websites, etc.
7. School bulletin board outside the office to introduce visitors, parents and students to the Health Theme of
the Month.
8. Winnipeg Police presentations to students discussing Street Proofing and Bullying.
9. Extracurricular Activities: Grade 1-6 Intramurals, Soccer Club, Running Club, Dance Club, Speed Skating
Club, Softball Club, Basketball Club, Yoga, Pentathlon Club, Drama Club, Chess Club, Mad Science, Choir,
and Craft Club.
10. Effective Behaviour System Program Training: common area training, social skills, thematic teaching,
anti-bullying program, and teacher training opportunities for behaviour related issues.
11. Community Service Program: Winnipeg Harvest, Pennies from Heaven, Unicef, Christmas Cheer Board, Humane
Society.
12. A Flu Prevention Program focusing on hand washing and preventative measures.
13. Prairie Spirit Garden - Parents, Teachers and Students plant natural prairie wildflowers, grasses and trees
each year. Plans for the future include a butterfly garden and a vegetable garden.
14. All students are provided with milk at lunch hour. The cost of the milk is subsidized by the Winnipeg
School Division.
15. School Wide Recycling Program (milk cartons, paper, cans etc.)
16. Lunch Hour Staff Wellness Program (staff volleyball, basketball, yoga, lunch hour walking club).
17. Drug Education Program, including the effects of smoking.
18. Staff Friday Snack Day has changed to Healthy Friday Snack Day.
19. Early Years Perceptual Motor Program.
20. Brain Gym.
21. Winter Camp for grade 6 students.
22. This year we are applying for Green School status as part of our Environmental Stewardship Program.
23. ASL for All – All students are instructed in American Sign Language one day per cycle. (Grosvenor School houses
12 students who are deaf or hard of hearing).
a Sexuality Education Curriculum for students
in grade four - grade 10.
The Winnipeg Police Department provides
services to the school on Street Proofing and
Bully Proofing.
The Manitoba Lung Association makes
presentations to students on the effects of
smoking.
Karen Pellaers, [email protected]
Grosvenor School, Winnipeg School Division,
Winnipeg, Manitoba
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
49
Beaverlodge School Health Enhancing
Bee-haviours, Manitoba
Buzz is the healthy, happy bee that is teaching health enhancing
behaviours to the students of Beaverlodge Elementary School.
Beaverlodge is a K – 6 school in the Pembina Trails School Division
in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Beaverlodge has 215 students.
Healthy Behaviours are grouped into 10 monthly themes:
September –
October –
November –
December –
January –
February –
March –
April –
May –
June –
Be Myself –
Be Safe –
Be Respectful –
Be Responsible –
Be Calm –
Be a Friend –
Be a Healthy Eater –
Be Aware –
Be Physically Active –
Be Proud –
self-esteem, daily health practices and goal setting
safety and decision-making
communication
time management, goal setting and responsibility
relaxation and anger management
communication, interpersonal skills and conflict management
nutrition and goal setting
substance use and abuse and decision making
physical activity and goal setting
self-esteem and celebrating successes
Each theme centers on the student
learning outcomes of the Manitoba
Physical Education and Health
Curriculum. The Program is implemented in classrooms, the library, the
music room, and in the gym. Whole
school activities involve assemblies,
bulletin boards, announcements, library
contests, websites, parent and student
questionnaires.
Diana Juchnowski, the physical education
teacher, initiated the program. It soon
became a joint effort involving Shelley
Suzuki, the grade five teacher (who did all
of the artwork for Buzz), librarians Marg
Stimson and Kathy Dudych (developed
the website www.pembinatrails.ca/
beaverlodge), grade one teacher Lynda
Richard (developed resources), grade six
teacher Kim Burnett, (looked for ways to
integrate health into every day activities),
50
councellor Joanne Lambert (supports the
teachers with resources, teaching ideas),
and numerous classroom teachers who
got excited about the concept and ran
with the program. Our Healthy Schools
committee involves 14 teachers, as well as
parents, school administration, and
regional health nurses.
The Principal, Rob Gendron, has
supported and promoted the health
program. Health Enhancing programs
and parent rap programs are part of the
school plan. The Regional Health
Authority has given financial support and
guidance. Community partners, agencies,
and support groups do presentations to
the students on their area of expertise.
Parent Council also supports and is
excited about the program.
This is the first year of this program but
we see evidence of its success in the
behaviour and language of our students.
We believe that by focusing on behaviours
and a consistent message over their
elementary years, our students will have a
solid foundation to make healthy choices
in life.
Diana Juchnowski, Physical Education Teacher
204-895-8213
Healthy Active School Communities,
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, Ontario
Our local Healthy Active School Communities (HASC) initiative
started in mid-2001 and included the following actions:
Step 1: Established a HASC Committee
Gathered a group of passionate
individuals from various backgrounds
(education, health, community sector,
etc.) to promote the concept of
Comprehensive School Health and to
support schools that take this approach.
Step 2: Developed a “Blueprint for a
Health Promoting School”
Developed a tool that describes key
components of a healthy active school
community. The framework was adapted
from CAHPERD’s Quality School
Checklist.
Step 3: Developed Other Resources
The Committee produced a binder that
outlines the concept of HASC, guiding
principles, the process to become a
HASC, models from around the world,
and more. We have also developed a
poster for HASC schools to display,
committee letterhead, and large banners
for the pilot schools. Small packages on
data collection and tools have also been
developed.
Step 4: Established Pilot Schools
There are seven elementary schools
piloting the HASC initiative. Three are
from the Hastings and Prince Edward
District School Board and four are from
the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic
District School Board. Each school is in
the process of assessing their school
community, identifying goals, and
planning strategies to implement in their
schools. The schools have incorporated
HASC as one of their School
Improvement Plan goals.
Step 5: Supporting Pilot Schools
The HASC Committee is supporting
these schools with facilitation of planning
meetings, assistance in data collection,
resource development, and in addressing
challenges.
The focus for some of the schools in
2003/2004 has been data collection and
sustainability. The Committee has
assisted the schools with forming various
structures to enhance the value of HASC
in their school to make it part of the
school culture.
Step 6: Continue On
The Committee is now looking at our
future directions and possible next steps.
We are learning as we go!
Marg Thompson, Hastings and Prince
Edward
District
School
Board,
[email protected]
Sharon Osterhout, Hastings & Prince
Edward Counties Health Unit
Members of the Committee have
attended some planning meetings at the
individual pilot schools to assist with
identifying goals, developing
plans,
linking
to
community resources,
and development of
data collection tools.
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
51
Bready School Bullying Initiative, Saskatchewan
Bready Public School, located in North Battleford, Saskatchewan launched a
“Bullying Initiative” that has been integrated into all components of the
school program and framework. A series of activities have taken place that
have helped to ensure that bullying is not a problem at our school. Following
is an outline of activities, partnerships, and outcomes of this initiative.
Student experiences:
School Policies
‘Growth’ experience for teachers
• Completed bullying surveys (pre and
post )
• Attended assemblies that defined
bullying
• Pledged to stop bullying – individually
and as a school body
• Developed skills to use when
confronting a bullying situation
• Learned the importance of taking a
stand and the role of the bystander
• Painted t-shirts to hang in the
community for Stop the Violence Day
• Helped create a more caring
community
• Develop a Peer Patrol program
The school administration included the
following activities into the yearly plans:
Working collaboratively to research,
develop and implement the bullying
initiative
Role of the Teacher
Teachers are directly involved in the
Bullying Initiative as planners, facilitators,
monitors, organizers, instructors, researchers,
presenters, and writers
Integration into the school
The school bullying definition is directly
related to the school motto:
Learning and Living in a Safe and
Caring Environment
Definition:
Bullying is one or a group of students
picking on other students or treating
them in a way they do not like.
The school motto, definition, and pledge
are enshrined (billboard fashion) in the
hallway encircled by the hands of all
students.
• Revised school discipline policy
• Conference and school-based PD time
for all staff
• Communication plan which included
parent/teacher meetings, pamphlet
inserts for the school newsletter,
annual section in the school
• School calendar/handbook, and regular
agenda item at staff meetings
• Playground enhancement project
Evaluation and Successes
• Statistical analysis of pre and post
bullying surveys for students and
parents
• Student body is more aware of the
importance of reporting incidents of
bullying expeditiously
• Teachers and teachers have developed
new strategies to use when dealing
with bullying incidents
Partners
Home & School Association
Family Liaison Worker
RCMP
‘Growth’ experience for students
Our students had a chance to
experience roles as advocates in
classroom role plays, and
participate in discussions on
the importance of the
bystander, buddy reading
program, and Peer Patrol
program.
Lyle Brenna, Principal, [email protected]
and Lynn Brisebois, Vice Principal
SPRING
•
PRINTEMPS 2004
53
wintergreen ad
54

journal - PHE Canada

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