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Catholic school Board briefs Too many obese kids: dietician Danielle Sachs Northern News Services Published Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Gillard called some of the Yellowknife-specific data disturbing, adding more needs to be done to encourage a healthy lifestyle among youth. The data compared Yellowknife children to children from the rest of Canada. While the percentage of children that were overweight was relatively the same, 20 per cent for Yellowknife and 19.8 per cent for Canada, obesity rates were higher in Yellowknife, 16 per cent compared to 11.7 per cent. Being overweight is defined as being heavier than average for one's height but not necessarily carrying excess fat. Excess weight could simply mean having more muscles. Obesity, on the other hand, specifically refers to excess fat, which can lead to increased health problems. Canada-wide statistics were provided by Statistics Canada while the Yellowknife data was collected during kindergarten intake screening. The numbers were pulled from a health checkup children go through before entering kindergarten and Gillard estimated there are probably 10 to 15 per cent of children, mainly high risk, that don't make it to the screening. "That's concerning," said Gillard. "We're not getting the most high-risk children in those numbers." Trade enrolment numbers up Enrolment at the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre is going up after years of decline, according to the centre's co-ordinator Larry Connolly. Connolly revealed this latest trend while providing an update on the trades centre to Yellowknife Catholic school board trustees at the board's last meeting before Christmas last Wednesday. "Last year, my report to the board contained what we thought was an area of concern," said Connolly. "From 2009-2011 there was a steady decline in high school enrolment. But if we look at the numbers based on 2012, that trend has changed." Calling first semester enrolment numbers encouraging, Connolly said enrolment from St. Patrick High School increased by 18 per cent to 162 students. "We're back in the vicinity of where we were in 2009," he said. Trustee Amy Simpson-Hacala asked if he had any idea on what caused the number of registered students in the trades centre to drop and then rise again. "We met as a district and brought it to the high school's attention," said Connolly. "We made it a priority to increase enrolment and it continues to be a priority." Some of the challenges facing enrolment numbers include scheduling conflicts with other required courses in school, said Connolly. Next year may become even more of a challenge when the mandatory Northern Studies class becomes a five-credit course instead of a three-credit course. Anti-bullying programs Yellowknife Catholic Schools superintendent Claudia Parker updated trustees last week on anti-bullying activities occurring in schools. "As a school district, we want to make sure all our students feel safe," said Parker. Often adults aren't aware of bullying because they don't see it happening, she said. Parker explained to the board that each school was required to come up with an anti-bullying directive and highlighted some of the programs happening in each school. "The high school is teaching about inclusivity," said Parker. St. Patrick High School puts students in charge of its anti-bullying program because they can act as role models, said Parker. At Weledeh, students are learning to stand up to bullying, even if they are not the ones being bullied, said Parker. "They have schoolwide Think Pink events and the standing up for others campaign is called Be The One." St. Joseph Catholic School is piloting a project called WITS, which stands for Walk it out, Ignore, Talk it out and Seek help. "It aims to bring together schools, families and communities," said Parker. "It brings community members into the school, like the RCMP and fire department."
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