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The 2024 Winter Cycling Congress: What a Ride!

Written by:  Tracey Coutts and Katie Mahon, Ever Active Schools   Has this ever happened to you… You invite people to your favourite place, maybe it’s a pizza parlour, a place known for its delicious pizza but, just as your guests start to pour through the door, the parlour runs out of cheese. Like, completely.…
Scooter rack full of scooters to promote active school travel

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN AN ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL CHAMPION FACES CHALLENGES? REALLY GREAT SOLUTIONS.

Writers:  Trevor Henderson, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, with support from Tracey Coutts and Shauna Miller-Shaker   Ever Active School supports many Active School Travel (AST) projects across the province which boast some pretty amazing outcomes, one of which continues to shine in Leduc, Alberta. In 2020/2021, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, Trevor…
winter cycling on a fat tire bike

WINTER CYCLING IN ALBERTA

Winter cycling may seem exotic and strange, but if you’ve ever biked in the warmer weather, or cross-country skied, snowshoed, or even walked outside in the winter, you’re 89.6% prepared to ride your bike in winter! How so, you might ask? Well:  You already own the clothing. You know how to dress in layers so you…

GRANTING PERMISSION TO TRY WITH CYCLING

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Watching young cyclists discover the freedom and thrill that comes with learning how to confidently navigate new neighbourhood and community routes is the equivalent of reading about C. S. Lewis’ Lucy moving deeper into the wardrobe, brushing past fur coats that transform to fir tree branches, on her…

RECREATION FOR THE GOOD OF COMMUNITY

On a chilly spring morning in March 2023 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, a group of new Canadian children and youth gathered to play, learn and connect.  As part of Ever Active Schools’ Resettlement Through Recreation project, supported by several amazing partner organizations, this celebratory day filled the cups of everyone present – quite literally for many,…
A circle of adults during a basketball coaching clinic with a rolling whiteboard in the centre.

EVERYBODY PLAYS: LEAGUES OF PLAY

In the 2022/2023 school year, Ever Active Schools and Canadian Tire Jumpstart entered into a multi-year partnership centered around the dream that everybody plays. Through this work, we are providing: 100% opportunity to participate so that everybody plays. Focus on priority populations so that everybody plays. Capacity building through grassroots approaches so that everybody plays.…
Two people are playing Giants, Wizards, Elves – a game to help teach the Phys Ed and Wellness section of the Alberta K-6 Curriculum. The person on the left is posed like a wizard with fingers pointed like magic wands. The person on the right is crouched down in an elf pose using hands for elf ears.

TEACHING THE NEW ALBERTA K-6 CURRICULUM

The new Alberta K-6 curriculum has certainly been a hot topic, and we’ve heard a lot of questions about the Physical Education and Wellness (PEW) section. The biggest question: how do I teach this Alberta K-6 curriculum without losing active time with my class? Never fear: Ever Active Schools is here! We’ve compiled 8 games…

HOW TO HOST A TOURNAMENT

Written by Nathan White and Melissa Tierney, Ever Active Schools In our Everybody Plays project work, funded by Jumpstart, Ever Active Schools has been working with schools and communities to host leagues of play, which includes tournaments! This handy guide is intended to help you plan and host a tournament. It is important to note…

HOSTING A HISTORIC ATHLETIC EVENT

In October 2022, Ever Active Schools had the opportunity to co-host the Alberta School Athletics Association (ASAA) Cross Country Running Provincial Championships with maskêkosihk, or Enoch Cree Nation. This was only the second time in ASAA history that a First Nation community was selected to host.  “It was so special because the Cultural Grounds [where…

HOW TO HOST A YOUTH FUN RUN OR WALK EVENT

Written by Hayley Degaust, Ever Active Schools The AMA Youth Run Club is a free, fun and flexible opportunity for schools and students to get active! Run, walk or roll your way to a healthier school community at any grade level. Hosting a fun run or walk event is a great way to either kick…

Sport as a Platform for Resilience

20190530 Indigenous Track And Field Day KM 0376

Sport is a powerful platform to support Indigenous health, education, behaviours and employability. It is a mechanism for social impact, fostering engagement in the school community, cultural pride and self-worth.  Building upon a rich history of sport and physical activity in Indigenous communities across Alberta, this work offers a strengths-based approach to resiliency and a whole-child approach to learning in Indigenous schools.

We acknowledge and support the Truth & Reconciliation Calls to Action for Sport & Recreation, specifically call to action #88:  

We call upon the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.

Sport can be a motivating factor to keep youth involved with school through social engagement, the development of character, team camaraderie and a positive activity away from drugs and alcohol within the community.  We work in a variety of ways to strengthen the impact of sport on Indigenous students and communities.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO SPORT PARTICIPATION

We work with funders, tribal agencies and governments, and provincial and national sport organizations to offer professional coach training, community coaching clinics, officiating training, and solutions to transportation barriers.  

In the Spring of 2020, our Health and Wellness Consultants connected with their Indigenous school communities to provide hundreds of ‘Resources Drops’: boxes of physical activity and sport equipment to support Physical Activity at home. These items included skipping rope, sporting equipment, and bicycles.  In partner communities, each school or family household was provided with sporting equipment when schools started learning remotely.

CREATING A CULTURE OF PHYSICAL LITERACY FOR ALL STUDENTS

Without a background in sport or physical activity, it is hard to "break into" sport for the first time, so community sport can sometimes only include the same group of students year to year and sport after sport. Creating fun, non-competitive opportunities for students to be active in creative and engaging ways dismantles fear and builds confidence and skills for students to be active for life. Our strategy includes training school staff to play fun movement games as "brain boosts" and build activity-based learning into the school day; sharing games and weekend play ideas with families through parent engagement activities; and partnering with sport and recreation programs to teach inclusive and adaptive strategies to include all students.

NETWORKS AND SUPPORT FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY COACHES

The athletic directors driving much of this work are strong voices for the resilience of youth in their communities. Initial meetings with these champions have identified the following areas to address and build capacity: mentorship; reducing barriers to participation; strengthened student voice; more play opportunities; and community engagement. Part of the success of this work so far has been creating and supporting networks for physical ed teachers, athletic directors and community’s coaches to connect, share successes, brainstorm solutions to common challenges, and organize co-run events. For example, the Treaty 6 Athletics Network has been running for over 10 years and offers more than 22 sporting opportunities for their 10 schools every year! We also run a telephone-based network for any school leaders from Indigenous School Authorities to connect and learn from one another.

FUN EVENTS TO CONNECT COMMUNITIES

In the 2018/19 and part of 2019/20 school years, Ever Active Schools held multiple events to bring together many diverse communities through the love of sport:

  • The 3rd annual Tri-Treaty Track Meet, bringing almost 400 Indigenous students from 22 Indigenous school communities to compete in a fun and supportive environment.
  • Winter Traditional Games tournaments for over 1000 Indigenous students in Treaty 7 at Winsport, Treaty 6 at Mother Earth Children's Charter School, and Treaty 8 in Loon River.
  • The first annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament bringing together 12 northern Indigenous communities, partnering with Kee TasKee Now Tribal Council Education Authority and hosted by the town of High Prairie. Word of the tournament reached all corners of the country, attracting coaches’ attention to the talent of two young boys from Atikameg First Nation, who went on to compete on a Canadian basketball team in an exposure tournament in Las Vegas!

When we are able to travel and connect in person again, we look forward to starting up these fun events once again!

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