Earlier in 2016, when the idea of a student-led health event was brought up in February, little did anyone know that it would lead to Clearview's first students' wellness conference, held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Hub, part of Stettler Recreation Centre.
With over 100 students attending the conference, a joint effort by 10 of the Clearview schools, students gave their input about ideas and thoughts to make their schools healthier places to learn and play.
From the student responses, way back in February, it was decided that an action research process would be started to implement their ideas and changes.
"In the fall as the first step in action research, students were asked to clearly define their guiding questions," said Brenda MacDonald, deputy superintendent, Clearview Public Schools. "The research questions were meant to support school wellness. The variety and creativity of the student-generated questions supported a broad picture of wellness."
According to MacDonald, the action research topics included among others – could school eating habits be improved without incurring a lot of expenses, how can the school and community get more opportunities for healthy living, how does laughter affect learning, how can the nutritional value of the school's hot lunch program be improved, how can Junior High students improve on leadership skills with the younger grade, if connection opportunities were provided, would it increase comfort levels for students, how can healthy eating and regular physical activity improve mental health at the schools, how can a quality intramural program be developed for students of grades 7-9, how can leadership be promoted in the schools and why are the students always so tired and if there are ways to reduce it.
"The student-led Wellness Conference brought students together to work on the research and action plan components in a fun and engaging format," MacDonald added. "Students had an opportunity in the morning to connect and gather their research information from various resources."
These resources were people from the Town of Stettler Recreation Department, Everactive Schools, Alberta Health Services (Mental Health, Health Promotion, Dietitian), Physical Education specialists and Family Liaison Workers.
"Students were able to ask questions and delve into their research during these face-to-face interactions," MacDonald said. "Activities throughout the day included student-led games and "Don't Walk in the Hallway" stickers, which saw schools designing their own paths and patterns to encourage more physical movement."
At the end of the day the students could enjoy from a wide variety of activities to wind down, from swimming, skating, yoga, fitness to the more sedate library activities.