Building school spirit
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
CORAL HARBOUR
The students at Sakku School got off to a great start with the first of a monthly activity aimed at building school spirit in Coral Harbour this past month.
Winning team members Leonie Netser, front, Tasha Ningeocheak, back left, and Tamika Nakoolak, back right, wait to receive their prizes during the first Sports Day of the semester at Sakku School in Coral Harbour this past month. - photo courtesy of Yan Guilbault |
The Sports Day event features a student from each grade comprising the teams, with each month featuring a unique theme for the activities.
Physical education teacher Alyssa Whitney was one of the main organizers of the event.
Whitney said the idea evolved from a one-time Sports Day event Sakku held this past year.
She said staff members wanted to hold a monthly activity that the entire student body could participate in together.
"We came up with the idea of making teams, with the students in Grade 11 and Grade 12 taking on a leadership role in leading them," said Whitney.
"We wanted a way the kids could be active, and could also build a kind of school community by having everyone participate in the activity together.
"The kids kept it all fun, with no one getting too competitive.
"The teams were awarded spirit points, and they received extra points for things like encouraging their team, saying positive things and being supportive of each other."
The students rotated around 10 different stations of sporting activities.
Each station featured one team competing against another as the students navigated the course.
Whitney said each station took about six minutes to complete.
She said the students seemed to really enjoy the event, and they're looking forward to future Sports Day themes.
"We hope to go with a minute-to-win-it theme for the next Sports Day, and then Inuit games just before the Christmas break.
"They're going to keep the same teams this whole semester, which should also help build team spirit by being with the same people the whole time.
"The plan is also to come up with a different theme every month to help keep Sports Day kind of fresh and varied as the semester progresses.
"It got off to a great start and, hopefully, we can build on that going forward."
