KAMLOOPS – School District No. 73, in collaboration with the City of Kamloops is hosting a Health Literacy Forum on October 23rd, 2013 for 500 grade 6 students and their teachers at the Tournament Capital Centre Fieldhouse.  The theme for this day is focused on social and emotional Health.

As a result of consultation with teachers, community partners and Interior Health, resiliency and mental health emerged as big ideas. To care about healthy eating, physical activity, and academic work, students need first to take care of their minds.

Grade 6 students and their teachers will participate in four interactive workshops, and leave with some strategies that they can use in their schools and in life to leading a healthy lifestyle. These workshops will focus on a combination of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision making.

LinK Leaders from South Kamloops Secondary will welcome schools to the TCC and guide them through workshops, be their host, spirit leader, and participate in activities. Jessica Vleigenthart will kick-off the forum by giving a keynote address on Resiliency: Developing a Physical Literacy.

The Health Literacy Workshops include:

-  Training Your Brain, led by School District staff
-  Feed Your Brain, mini-workshops put on by Interior Health Authority and Action Schools BC
-  Fundamental Movements for Sport and Dance hosted by Pacific Sport Interior BC staff and Beattie School of the Arts secondary
-  Play Is The Way, a game-based experiential learning session led by School District 73 teachers

Although this is a one-day event, students are encouraged to go back to their schools to create a healthy school.  Students will receive school challenges to facilitate leadership in Health Promotion through student-led inquiry projects.

The goal of this Health Literacy Forum is that in order to have interest in healthy eating, physical activity, and schooling, students need to take care of their mind. Because of the demands of current society, it’s important for students to learn how to manage and control their emotions, to empathize, strategize, lose and win with grace, include others, and cooperate.

Community partners include PacificSport, Action Schools BC, Interior Health, Kamloops Adapted Sports Association, Blackwell Dairy, and Save-On Foods.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013