Physical fitness project piloted
Physical literacy co-ordinator working to increase student's activity levels at school
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, December 5, 2013
DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Fort Providence students engaged in physical fitness testing in November as part of a pilot project being conducted at Deh Gah school.
The three-year project is a collaboration between the school, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) and Sport Canada, a division of the federal Department of Canadian Heritage. The intent of the project is to discover if having a physical literacy co-ordinator in the school will result in students being more physically active on a daily basis, said Ian Legaree, the director of sport, recreation and youth for MACA.
Together, the department and Sport Canada are providing $125,000 a year for three years to fund the project. Patrick Kippax has been working in the school since April as the physical literacy co-ordinator.
Kippax isn't meant to be a phys-ed teacher or a recreation director.
His role is to find ways to get students to be more active, Legaree said.
If the pilot project successfully shows that the position has a positive effect on youth's physical activity levels it will help MACA make the case that similar positions should be created in other NWT communities, he said.
To help gauge if the position is making a difference, researchers with the University of Alberta will be conducting physical literacy and fitness testing with students twice a year over the course of the project.
The first round of testing was done at the end of November. For one week, students in Grades 3 to 12 wore pedometers to see how many steps they took each day.
Students in Grades 3 to 7 are the core focus of the project because they will be at the school for the duration of the study, said Kippax. The body mass index, weight and height of those students was recorded and they also took a fitness test. The students also did a physical literacy test that tested their fundamental movement skills like skipping, throwing and kicking. Those skills will be monitored during the project to see if they improve over time, he said.
Students in Grades 8 to 12 did a physical fitness questionnaire. The next round of testing will be done in March. Testing is also being conducted in Fort Resolution, which is being used as the control community.
If students become more active, it will result in a number of benefits, Legaree said. In the long run, they will be healthier and they will be more likely to continue to be physically active throughout their life, he said. Deh Gah School is also interested in tracking whether increased levels of physical activity and fitness lead to corresponding increases in academic performance.
Kippax, who has experience as a personal trainer and a strength and conditioning coach, said the position is a dream job for him.
"I'm really passionate about this," he said.
"I'm really committed to fitness."
The school wants to get students active for 60 minutes a day, which is the time recommended by Canadian physical activity guidelines. Twice a week Kippax has been running fitness classes with the students that are focused on developing their fitness skills. The classes involve activities like push-ups and running.
Students in Grades 4 to 12 also do approximately 30 minutes of cardio activities every day in the school's cardio room. Kippax is also developing a physical literacy curriculum that will be incorporated into the gym classes for kindergarten to Grade 6.
Physical literacy, which includes being able to do fundamental movement skills, is important because if youth don't feel comfortable with the basic skills like throwing or running they won't participate in sports that require them, he said. Kippax has discovered that around half of the students at the school didn't know how to skip across a floor, which is considered a basic skill. The promotion of physical activity isn't limited to the students. Kippax has also been running a women's only boot camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The school's gym is also open to women over the age of 16 from 5 to 7 p.m., on Mondays to Thursdays.
Fort Providence was chosen as the location for the study because the school has adopted a year-round schooling schedule and also has close connections with the hamlet and the First Nation, said Legaree. Although the current funding is only for three years, there have been discussions about extending the project, he said.
