Inspiring children and youth to be healthy learners

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Bringing Inspiring Education to LifeOver 400 delegates travelled to Kananaskis, Alberta, in January 2014 for Ever Active Schools’ fifth annual Shaping the Future conference. The theme was inspiring children and youth to be healthy learners.

The two-day conference featured a full agenda, including keynote speakers, breakout sessions, research poster presentations and plenty of networking opportunities. Delegates relaxed during the Friday night dinner and social, and also took in some cross-country skiing, showshoeing and shinny to focus on their own personal wellness.

There was representation from 55 of 61 Alberta school districts. Trustees, superintendents, school administration, teachers, health professionals, recreation leaders and representatives from government and research were all present.

Each year, we see growth in attendance, and 2014 was no exception. For 68 per cent of those who completed our post-conference survey, it was their first time attending Shaping the Future. The top three reasons for attending were to share or gather information, for personal growth and development and for networking opportunities.

The overall goal of the conference was to bring people from different health sectors together to discuss comprehensive school health, and 99% of delegates agree that we accomplished this goal. The conference has momentum and a following. We forsee it continuing to grow and impact classrooms across the province.

ImpactShaping the Future sold out at 415 delegates in 2014. Ninety-six per cent of delegates intend to use the informa-tion gained to create health and wellness initatives in their school, community or organization. Ninety-five per cent reported they feel confident in understanding comprehensive school health to ‘inspire children and youth to be healthy learners.’

We asked delegates if and how Shaping the Future has inspired them to take action. The top three responses were: • Educate others on the importance of comprehensive school health• Identify one or more partners or collaborators to work with this year• Design and implement a new health and wellness initiative for students, staff or community members.

New TechnologyTo improve knowledge exchange and reduce printing costs and paper consumption, we developed an iPad, iPhone and Android compatible app for the conference. Seventy-three percent of delegates downloaded the app and 69% agree it was user-friendly and easy to use.

Delegates were able to view the agenda, customize a personal schedule to include sessions they planned to attend, read keynote speaker biographies, see which sessions were taking place at any given time, connect and network with other attendees, link to social media

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and more. We received plenty of positive feedback about the app and will continue implementing it for future conferences.

After School Hours Pre-conferenceDelegates had the opportunity to attend the full-day After School Hours Pre-conference. During the after school time period, it’s crucial that children and youth are engaged in healthy social and physical environments. The pre-conference offered tools and resources to support after school programming, trends and best practices and a professional development opportunity.

Keynote SpeakersThis years’ keynote speakers were very well-received by delegates. “I loved the keynote speakers. They had an adundance of knowledge to share and they were all passionate,” said one delegate. Thank you to the keynote speakers for making the journey to Kananaskis and for sharing their knowledge and expertise.

Riley Christensen, StudentRiley is 12 years old and in grade seven. He shares his story of embracing leadership opportunities, managing friendships, taking part in daily physical activity and balancing his world while living with the challenges of autism. Riley will share how his brain works in hopes he can help others to better understand children who cannot explain this for themselves.

Brenda Herchmer, Owner, Grassroots Enterprises and campusforcommunities.comBrenda’s primary work has involved community building and comprehensive community transformation. She recently served as the Director of Alberta Recreation and Parks Association’s ACE Communities initiative and taught at Niagara College, Brock University and the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club. She is a blogger and author of three books. She is committed to and believes in the importance and strength of our communities.

Dr. Phil McRae, Executive Staff Officer, Alberta Teachers’ AssocationPhil is an Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta (UofA), where he earned his Ph.D. He was the Director of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement at the UofA from 2005-09 and taught several graduate courses in the Master of Education in Educational Studies program. Phil has worked in many educational contexts while living and teaching in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Spain, the Lethbridge Public School District and on the Blood (Kainai) Reservation in Alberta.

Dr. Doug Gleddie, Assistant Professor, University of Alberta Doug is a husband and a father who also happens to be an Assistant Professor of Elementary Physical Education at the UofA. In a career filled with change, the only true constants have been physical activity and education, working with kids and how joy fills the spaces in between. He takes care of his own wellness by being active with his family, improving his guitar picking and seeking new challenges each day.

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A Conversation on “Active at School”- Canadian TireCanadian Tire shares its uprecedented investment into increasing physical activity in schools. The facts are clear. Quality physical activity in children and youth does more than improve health and well-being. It helps build confidence, leadership, productivity and creativity.

Creating Safe and Supportive Environments for LGBTQ Students and Staff - Nick Moore and Maxx LapthorneA recent Egale Canada survey suggests that an overwhelming majority of Canadian students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ) feel unsafe at school and most do not feel comfortable talking to the staff at their school. Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA’s) have been identified as a critical component in creating safe, caring, supportive and inclusive schools for LGBTQ students and staff and their allies.

Bringing SWAT to your School - Leanne Schram-WhiteStudents will bring forward a presentation, an activity, and a brain break for participants. Also, stu-dents will deliver an overview of the activities, roles and benefits of being a SWAT member.

Healthy Schools – Healthy Future: Comprehensive Schools Health Research: from Survey to SWAT Attacks- Kate Storey, Jill Osler and Lillian RueckHave you ever wondered how you can use comprehensive school health research to create a healthy active environment in your school community? This presentation shares the research tools used by Healthy Schools Healthy Future, which guides the adaptive practice in 17 participating schools following the JCSH comprehensive school health framework.

Concurrent SessionsOver 51 concurrent sessions were offered throughout the conference. The focus of these sessions ranged from comprehensive school health to sport academies and accelerometers to injury prevention.

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Walk with Us! - UWalkUWALK is a province-wide initiative that aims to increase the physical activity of Albertans. Our free and interactive website is a resource to help keep people motivated and on track to better health. Developed by the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta and funded by the Government of Alberta, UWALK offers tools to support physical activity monitoring.

Walk to School Safely - Monique WebbWalk to School Safely is an initiative that has inspired me to start a similar project with my Grade 1 class. Many students no longer walk to school because it is too far and unsafe. There are not enough safe pedestrians paths to schools in many communities, especially smaller towns and communities that often have a lower tax base and more highways in proximity. As a result fewer parents are willing to let their children walk to school.

Accelerating Our Impact to Create Healthy School Communities - Lisa McLaughlinCreating a health promoting school is a big job. Creating a health promoting community is an even bigger job. A community is a complex place with many organizations, services, programs, relationships, and priorities. In order to effectively tackle some of today’s big health challenges, such as unhealthy weights, chronic disease, food insecurity, and poverty, actors must be willing to work together in new ways.

Sport Academies and Student Wellness- Danny BaldersonThe number of Sport Academies in Alberta schools have grown signigicantly over the past ten years. This presentation will highlight this growing phenonemon and discuss the potential effects on Comprehensive School Health.

Green Schools Alberta: Healthy Students, Healthy Environment - Gareth ThomsonGreen Schools Alberta promotes environmental education in schools, helping teachers and students develop a culture of environmental stewardship. Environmental education contributes to a healthy school in several ways: it helps students get outdoors, which contributes to their wellness; it empowers students to create healthy environments in their school; and it gives students hope as they ‘shape the future’ and carry out environmental stewardship projects, many of which contribute directly to environmental quality, assuring ready access to fresh air, clean water, etc.

Shaping Schoolyards for Healthy Learners - Michelle DrisslerResearch indicates that interactions with nature can help promote holistic well-being in children via development of motor skills, encouragement of creative play and through its calming effect. Schoolyard gardens can be wonderful spaces that introduce children to nature in a meaningful way, provide material for hands-on curriculum lessons and promote student well-being and school pride.

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Greening CBE Schools: Links to Comprehensive School Health- Roy StrumThis session will focus on sharing success stories focusing on sharing: • the development of naturalization spaces, food gardens, and hydration stations • design and construction guidelines for CBE schools for the development of naturalization areas, food gardens and hydration stations• our funding possibilities through external funders

Facilitating Change in Comprehensive School Health - Marg Schwartz and Landra Hills

Change in schools can be difficult and comprehensive school health implementation requires changes to the school culture to prioritize health.

Making Healthy Eating Education Fun: Introducing the Cooking Club Manual and Sugar Shocker - Vanessa Baker and Charity AlcocerGood nutrition is important for children & youth’s growth and development, and plays a key role in preventing chronic disease. It is also linked to better school performance and positive behaviours. Yet busy lifestyles often leave families feeling that they don’t have enough time to prepare healthy meals from scratch. This time crunch has led to increased use of convenience and fast foods.

Foundation for Change: Healthy School Planner - Gail DiachukThe Pan Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health provides tools and resources to support schools to implement a comprehensive school health approach. This presentation will highlight the Healthy School Planner, a tool co-created with support from JCSH and the University of Waterloo with input from pilot schools in Alberta.

Canadian Academy for Healthier Generations- Cynthia WatsonThe Academy is a collaborative and multi-sector initiative by a grassroots recreation association in Calgary. The research-based living lab was launched in 2013 with a mandate to co-create new blueprints for healthy living. This pioneering effort is in direct response to Canada’s national challenge of increasing sedentary behaviour and decreasing physical activity, especially among children and youth; and the need for Canada’s public recreation sector to work effectively with the education sector do more to support Canadians, of all generations, in being more active and enjoying healthy living.

Using Accelerometers to Measure Physical Activity Behaviours in Elementary School Children - Dwayne and Sonia SheehanPolar Activity Monitors (PAM’s) are a wrist worn watch with a built in accelerometer that accurately measures daily activity. They provide instant and ongoing feedback to children that helps increase the awareness of their daily routine. The PAM’s have been successfully used in an elementary school physical education class and have several cross-curricular applications.

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Be Kind - Alexandra ZannisTeaching young women, and men, the importance of kindness. It is taking the negativity from bullying and making it positive to help kids find kind in their everyday lives. Instead of telling young people in schools or in any instant in their life that bullying is bad they will tell you they already know that, So coming at it from another angle, such as be kind to others can really change the perspective towards bullying.

Youth Directed Mentorship- Jennifer Hodge and Mary Appleton DiasHeart-to-Heart Mentoring: Dedicated to helping young girls develop a deeper understanding of who they are while building strong, positive relationships. Knights in Training (KIT) Mentoring: A hands-on Mentoring program in which participants learn life lessons through the game of chess. While building their own chess board and individual chess pieces, the Mentees will learn how to follow a plan, build better relationships with their peers, foster inclusion and offer opportunities for individual growth in decision-making and character development. Teaching Youth with Depression – A Whole School Approach - Mary Dawn EggletonApproximately 3.2 million Canadian youth are at risk for developing major depression but only one in five seek help. Studies show that when youth are struggling with mental wellness their relationships suffer, their school performance decreases and they can become hopeless.

An Inquiry Based Approach to Developing Physical Literacy in Schools- Deirdre Bailey and Dean SchmeichleInquiry-based practice is redefining teaching and learning for a generation of students. It provides students with opportunities to deepen a specific set of competencies or understandings through authentic, real work that reflects the work that an adult at work or in the community might tackle. Physical education however, too often reverts to traditional, sport-specific development approaches and fails to cultivate habits, perspectives and understandings that lead to a life-long commitment to physical literacy.

A PE Program that Gets Adolescents to Take Responsibility for their Fitness Today - Cari Din and Erin DymondTeachers are presented with the opportunity to shape school-aged childrens’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviours. The purpose of the research that will be described in this collaborative presentation was to develop an in-depth understanding of leadership in a setting where a unique physical fitness program (Fit Log) is being used to promote personal health outcomes for junior high students.

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Engaging Students in a Healthy School Community: A Panel Discussion - Matt Mitschke and Kaitlin NiksicAre you looking for ways to engage students in creating a healthier school community? Do you want to learn about what Alberta schools are doing to involve students in Comprehensive School Health? Student engagement is an essential part of any healthy school community. Involving students in healthy school change builds strong leadership skills and improves buy-in for school health among all students.

The Importance of a District/Division Perspective - Libby Coldbeck and Colleen WrightOne of the best ways to ensure the sustainability of a healthy school community is to take a jurisdictional approach to creating a culture of wellness. This approach supports the premise that principals, teachers, staff and students can all play a role in infusing wellness both through the curriculum and into the culture of the school community.

Strengths Based Solutions for Lasting Success/ Leading your Life: Accessing the Strengths of a Community for Individual Success - Terri DauterBased on the work of Dr. Donald Clifton, a founder of the school of positive psychology, Strengths Finder 2.0 is solidly founded on more than 40 years of research on human strengths involving more than 4 million people in 26 countries. Using the Clifton Strengths Finder 2.0 resource, participants will learn how to distinguish between the four themes of strengths (Executing, Relationship, Strategic Thinking, and Influencing), and will be introduced to the 34 individual strengths.

The REAL Kids Alberta Evaluation - Erin Faught and Kerry Vander PloegThe Raising healthy Eating and Active Living Kids Alberta (REAL Kids Alberta) evaluation is a joint project of the School of Public Health, University of Alberta and Alberta Health. The intent of this evaluation is to assess the impact of Alberta Health’s Healthy Weights Initiative and to provide some measurable behavioural and health outcomes for children in Alberta. Got Data? Get Results- Erin Wright and Jenn PatrickComprehensive school health knowledge is spreading across the province, but how can school communities use research to affect change? This session will focus on how school champions can affect change in school communities by using research results from the REAL Kids Alberta evaluation. Promising practices to increase physical activity levels, healthy eating behaviours and school community engagement will be shared.

A Cross-Curricular Approach to High School Wellness - Laureen LaileyParticipants will learn about the High School Wellness Project and the incredible ways that staff in these schools are considering and embedding a cross-curricular competency based approach to wellness education. Learn more about the data collected to inform the work in schools, engagement strategies to get buy in from teachers and students, and resources co-created and shared by the field.

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A Classroom Perspective to Inspiring Education: Embedding Wellness into the High School - Cheryl ShinkarukAlberta’s vision for education is to provide opportunities for all students to become engaged thinkers, ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. One of the ways to accomplish this is to ensure that student wellness is an integral part of the high school experience. This session will provide valuable information on how to begin the process of embedding wellness within high school core subjects.

Adolescent Mental Health- Kathy PennerAdolescent Mental Illness is fast becoming a primary topic of concern in schools. The number of students with Anxiety disorders are growing and the need for improved Mental Health Literacy is crucial. This session will overview parts of the “Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide” developed with the Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health from Dalhousie University.

Healthy Schools Start on the Inside: Developing an Employee Wellness Program - Megan HunterThe Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP) is a holistic health organization committed to creating resources to foster healthy lifestyles and healthy workplaces within the Alberta education sector. We tailor our services to support school employees in their efforts to make the educational experiences of Alberta’s students the best they can be. Like many sectors in Alberta, school employees are at risk for chronic disease, injury and poor physical and mental health. The ASEBP believes employee health is a shared responsibility between the individual and the employer.

Healthy Schools: A Conversation Designed for You - Lorna Muise, Matt Mitschke and Cathy WhiteDo you have something exciting to share about how your school or district is creating healthy school communities? Are you struggling to overcome a barrier or needing access to new or different resources? Do you want to explore steps for moving forward as an individual and as a larger group? Join us for a discussion where participants identify the topics, build their own agenda, then connect with people passionate about creating healthy school communities.

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Wild Rose School Division - Lessons learned - Stanton SwainWild Rose School Division is well into its fourth year of a health and wellness project and through this process has learned many valuable lessons. The project lead, at least one health champion and a trustee will share their knowledge of the challenges they faced and the steps that were taken to overcome these challenges.

Building Positive Mental Health through Whole School Approach - Matt Mitschke and Jacqui CurrieIn this session, you’ll learn about tools and resources that support a whole-school approach to creating a positive school culture: where students feel safe, valued and feel that they belong; where students are taught how to cope with stress and develop resiliency; and where practices and procedures shape a respectful, welcoming and supportive school environment. You will have an opportunity to share and reflect on your school’s current practices related to positive mental health.

Positive Mental Health in Schools - Kim Hordal-Hlewka and Tricia Giles-WangThis session will give you an opportunity to network and learn about different resources, supports, and partners that support Positive Mental Health within schools. We will also connect to some success stories throughout the province.

Media Creation as an Engagement Strategy in Aboriginal Schools- Jason GondziolaThis presentation will highlight the importance of using filmmaking and artistic production as an engagement strategy with high school students. In many cases, youth aren’t willing to talk directly about social and sexual health issues. Through creative engagement, facilitators and teachers can find alternate avenues to discuss these important issues.

Outdoor Education: Pathways to Lifelong Activity and Healthy Schools - Albert SoleIn the struggle to increase physical activity levels for Canadians of all ages the critically important role that outdoor activity for children plays, or could play, has largely been overlooked. This presentation will briefly discuss why this has happened and highlight key skills and attitudes that outdoor activity can and should provide in preparing children to become active for life.

Injury Prevention in Children and Adolescents- Rebecca Carnduff and Benjamin TanInjuries are the leading cause of death and hospitalization in youth, and their consequences consume enormous resources. In Alberta, it is estimated that 35% of youth (ages 11-18) sustain a sport and recreational injury requiring medical attention each year. Attendees will also be invited to participate in selected injury prevention exercises during the session.

Living, Laughing, Loving, Learning and Lifestyle: Maintaining Personal Balance - Bill GordonOriginally developed for care givers, this presentation has been adapted for other groups including secondary

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health/CALM students. The session focuses on the importance of life balance in maintaining personal wellness not only physically but mentally. During the session, attendees participate in a series of short activities to examine their own current level of balance and to consider future opportunities to enhance that level.

Attending to Students’ Emotional Well-being to Enhance Student Success - John Burger, Jeff Chalmers, Robert Kimura, Tara Sly, Denise Weaver and Brenda ValerioRocky View Schools is ramping up research and development on better ways to be responsive to students’ affective experience of school by measuring seven factors captured by the Student Orientation to School Questionnaire: Safe and Caring, Peers, External Resilience, Internal Resilience, Self-Confidence, Utility of School and Extra-Curricular.

The Role of the Administrator in Changing School Culture within a Comprehensive School Health Framework- Erica RobertsIn order to move towards evidence-based practice and ultimately have a greater positive impact on the health of children and youth, it is important to continually evaluate Comprehensive School Health (CSH) initiatives. Previously conducted process evaluations of one such initiative, the Alberta Project Promoting active Living and healthy Eating in schools (APPLE Schools), revealed that the uncontested support of the principal was seen as imperative for program success. This discovery has yet to be fully unpacked within the context of APPLE Schools, and has not been comprehensively explored within the literature. This presentation will describe these interview findings and will share learning on how this knowledge can be used to enhance Comprehensive School Health practice, research and policy.

Student Leadership and Health Promotion - Ashley FoxThanks to the support of The Alberta Healthy School Community Wellness Fund, the Be Fit For Life Network has been supporting the implementation of student wellness teams across the province. The P.H.A.T (Positive, Healthy, Active, Today) project started in Calgary and has recently moved across Alberta to four new communities. This session will highlight successes and strategies for giving students a voice in creating a healthy school environment.

The Youth Engagement Toolkit: Bringing Youth Voice to Comprehensive School Health - Katherine KellyBoth research and experience have demonstrated that youth engagement and youth-adult partnerships can change

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a young person’s life for the better. The Youth Engagement Toolkit is designed to provide the reader with insight into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of youth engagement, as well as expected outcomes. Developed for the Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health by and with the Students Commission of Canada, the Youth Engagement Toolkit provides definitions of youth engagement, a ‘how-to’ guide for authentic and sustained engagement practices, video clips, an indicator framework, and an evaluation model, with an extensive list and weblinks to resources.

Healthy Living: Through Their Eyes - Kirsten Leslie and Suzana DomoAction for Healthy Communities has developed an after school program that aims to teach Healthy Living as it relates to each school and its’ needs. Recognizing that a “one size fits all” model does not work with every school and certainly does not meet the needs of each child. Covering topics such as challenges faced in the planning process and how they were addressed. Finding balance in the program and bringing in partners to make for more engaging and affective programming. Finally how the program has drastically impacted not only the participants but their parents and the surrounding communities as well.

Collaborating for Success: Implementing the Active Alberta Policy- Damien Traverse and Lisa TinkThis session will explore how vested partners can collectively work towards the vision of the Active Alberta Policy. As a 10-year government wide policy, Active Alberta is designed to contribute to quality of life, health and wellness, strong communities, personal fulfillment and economic benefits through recreation, active living and sport.

Healthy Schools Speed Dating - Felicia Ochs and Matt MitschkeSpend your morning with over 12 health champions and division leads from diverse school communities within Black Gold Regional and Parkland School Division. Each speed date will provide you with an interactive opportunity to look at what’s working well within the four pillar areas of rural and urban K-12 schools. Through the use of technology, you’ll have the opportunity to use each date to adapt, not adopt great ideas.

Brain Builders and Juggling with Action Schools! BC - Allyson EppThis session is for educators interested in the relationship between physical activities and brain development and function. The Brain Dance lesson in the Action Schools! BC Physical Activity Action Resource will be highlighted and participants will also learn to identify “brain building” movements in other physical activities. Juggling develops agility, hand-eye coordination and the ability of the eyes to track and focus.

AHKC’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth - Jennifer Cowie BonneJoin Active Healthy Kids Canada as we discuss our latest Report Card released in May 2013. This year the spotlight is being shone on the dramatic decline in active travel among children and the corresponding increased reliance on motorized transportation. Jennifer Cowie Bonne, CEO of Active Healthy Kids Canada will present the Report Card and the materials and tools that are available to support your work promoting healthy active living across Canada. Get your questions ready and don’t miss this exciting opportunity!

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Promoting Healthy Relationships: Five Essential Strategies - Kim CampbellHealthy relationships are essential for healthy development. As adult leaders, it is critical to create safe, caring respectful environments where children and youth can develop positive relationships and learn the skills for building healthy relationships with others. Strategies for developing rapport, coaching students and creating positive group dynamics must be intentionally employed to help all children and youth develop the social skills for academic success and emotional well-being.

Supporting Grade 7-12 School Students in Developing Healthy Relationships - Libby ColdbeckHealthy relationships are pivotal in all schools and are a key component of a healthy school community; this is especially true among students considered to be at-risk and without other positive adult interaction. This session will highlight the work of schools across the province focused on developing healthy relationships for grade 7-12 students, utilizing the creativity and innovation of students.

Farm to Cafeteria Canada: Bringing Local, Fresh Food into our Hospitals, Schools, and Universities - Cathy WhiteFarm to Cafeteria programs connect farm to fork bringing local, nutritious and sustainably produced foods into public agencies - places where we learn, work, are healed and play. Farm to School, Farm to Campus and Farm to Hospital are all Farm to Cafeteria programs. Linking farms to health care facilities, campuses and schools is a simple idea that has inspired the spread of Farm to Cafeteria programs. These programs offer great potential to address two of the major challenges of our society: concern about the diet and health of our population and concern about the sustainability of current regional and institutional food systems.

Many Hands Make Light Work… But What is the Secret to Engaging Others?- Leslie Prenoslo and Jacqui CurrieWe know that building a healthy school community requires engagement from a variety of stakeholders such as students, teachers, administrators, parents, school district representatives and community partners. However engaging these stakeholders is not always an easy task.