Activity Report 2017

Intent

To target local students from high-needs families who would normally not have the opportunity to attend a camp during the summer break, CPAC purchased 25 spots in the Laurier Multi-Sport Camp. The camp took place from July 31-Aug. 4, 2017.

Action

Since the camp took place at Laurier's Seagram Stadium, we targeted schools in Waterloo by looking up rankings on the Fraser Report. We took the five Waterloo public schools lowest on the list, then crossed referenced the area the schools were in with data from Stats Canada. We awarded the five top schools with five spots in the camp, for a total of 25 spots. The schools chosen were Cedarbrae, Sandowne, Winston Churchill, Keatsway and Lincoln Heights.

We then made contact with the principals and asked them to meet with the teachers of grades 4-6 and explain the camp opportunity. We asked those teachers to get the students in their class to write a paragraph about what physical activity means to them. Once all the students wrote their paragraph, the staff and principal got together to determine the five students from their school that would be awarded a spot in the camp. After the kids were chosen, we sent out registration forms for the parents to complete.

Barriers

Many of the students who were chosen to participate do not have access to a reliable means of transportation, so we provided a bus picked up the students at their school, took them to the camp, and returned them to the school at the end of the day. This was a big success as 24 out of the 25 children used this service.

Another barrier we noticed was the difficulty in completing the registration forms for some parents whose first language is not English. CPAC helped the families facilitating the availability of translators, or school officials who could help parents and aid them in completing the necessary forms.

Results

The camp was an overwhelming success as it was noted by camp councillors that the 25 campers we the best behaved group of the bunch. They participated in all activities with enthusiasm and were respectful to their councillors. After they went rock climbing and swimming on Friday, one camper told their councillor it was the most fun she had ever had in her life. The head councillor for the week was very happy with how the week went and would welcome campers through CPAC again.

Cost

• Busing fees: $988.75
• Camp fees: $6,024
• Total cost: $7,012.75

Intent

To provide children from Winston Churchill Elementary School the opportunity to be exposed to golf.

Action

We populated with program with 45 children from Winston Churchill School and provided a bus for pick up/drop off.

Barriers

One barrier we encountered with this program is the language/reading comprehension difficulties when dealing with this population. Some parents didn't read the information sheet correctly, and were confused with the start time of the program and the time the kids needed to be dropped off at the bus stop. In the future, we need to make sure all details are clear and explicit.

Results

The program was an overwhelming success as the kids had a great time and that was reported back to me by the CYW at Winston Churchill. The CYW also noted that most students have never had the opportunity to access a sport like golf in any way and the students really enjoyed being able to learn a new sport. Next time however, I would hire more student volunteers for programs where danger is a factor. Since all the students were unfamiliar with golf, they didn't have very good spatial awareness or fear of the club hitting them/hitting someone else. Another thing we need to be cognisant of going forward is the noise level of the gym. We were in the Seagram Stadium Gym, which is loud, and at times it was difficult to give instructions loud enough that all 45 students could hear.

Cost

• Gym rental: $243.91
• Bus: $157.64
• Total cost: $401.55

Intent

To provide children from Franklin Public School with a physical activity component to their already-established Nutrition for Learning Breakfast Program.

Action

We hired two Laurier graduate students to lead 60-70 JK-grade 6 students through a 40-minute physical activity program on Thursday mornings for 10 weeks.

Barriers

There are several students who are recent immigrants to Canada so communicating through language differences required some work. Another barrier we found was that there was a big age/development difference between the youngest and oldest participants which made game/activity selection extremely important.

Results

The program was very successful and we have been asked by the school to return again next semester. The instructors were able to communicate with students whose first language is not English through movements and demonstrations. We were able to find games all students enjoyed to ensure high participation and safety. The non-slip socks were a great purchase for this program as participants wear socks only in the Breakfast Program facility and the non-slip socks allowed students to be active but not have to worry about sliding/slipping. The program made such a big impact that Nutrition for Learning featured our involvement on their social media sites.

Cost

• Student stipend: $300 each, $600 total
• Student transportation: $160.00
• Non-slip socks: $110
• Total cost: $870

Intent

Sun Life Financial is a big supporter of diabetes research and programs that lead to diabetes prevention, so CPAC thought making a connection with Diabetes Canada was essential.

Action

After meeting with Heidi Fraser from Diabetes Canada, we decided that the best partnership between our organizations entail Laurier students conducting in-school presentations to local elementary students about type 2 diabetes prevention. Heidi came to Laurier's campus for two informational training sessions to train our student volunteers in Diabetes Prevention. Heidi uses her connections within Waterloo Region to find schools who wish to have a presentation at their school, then CPAC facilitates the delivery of the presentation. 

Barriers

A barrier for CPAC is we rely on Heidi to find schools who wish to participate, instead of being able to contact schools on our own. As a result, we have 10 students trained to do presentations, but only a few have actually done them.

Results

Although this is a new partnership, it has been going well. We have been assured there are lots of interested schools for the Winter 2018 semester want to have a presentation at their school. To date, we have delivered type 2 diabetes prevention programs to about 100 students.

Cost

• Student stipend: $25/session, one session with two students = $50
• Plastic bags: $10
• CPAC promo materials: $300
• Total cost: $360

Intent

Provide free after-school recreational programming to KW students at Queen Elizabeth PS and Trillium PS on Monday nights, and N A MacEachern PS on Tuesday nights.

Action

CPAC had five Laurier KIN student volunteers each evening to supervise and lead the participants through various physical activity games and sports.

Barriers

The first barrier we encountered was the language and reading comprehension deficiencies from parents attempting to fill out registration forms whose first language is not English. Another barrier we encountered was the gym was a bit small for the number of participants we had in our Monday night program. Additionally, we encountered a behavioural issue that needed to be dealt with by the participant's school.

Results

We were able to provide 50 high needs students access to free physical activity programming once a week for eight weeks. We received extremely positive feedback from participants, parents, and school officials. On the last night of programming, one single mother expressed her deep appreciation for the program as she can't afford to send her children to other programs and it gave her some much needed time to herself while her children were participating in our program. It was exciting to see the physical literacy skill improvement many of the students experienced through the eight weeks. CPAC has been asked by each school to run programs for their students again in the future. The students really enjoyed interacting with the Laurier students as well as being able to play fun games and sports with their peers.

Cost

• Student stipend: 10 at $200 = $2,000
• Equipment: $700
• Busing: $2,142
• Other supplies (volunteer t-shirts, binders, masking tape, prizes, etc.): $400
• Rental fees: $200
• Total cost: $5,442

Intent

To make a connection with a well-established physical activity centre.

Action

We met with Bridgette Estrela, director of Programs and Partnerships at MLSE's Launch Pad and were able to ask her the do's and don'ts in building a successful Centre.

Barriers

No barriers.

Results

Bridgette was able to give us valuable information on programs, barriers for students in our target population, organizational structure, etc. It was great to meet with her in CPAC's infancy as it gave us some insight into the most efficient ways to bring our programs to the community.

Cost

• Via Rail tickets: $68.80
• Lunch: $31.64
• Total: $100.44

Intent

To raise awareness of our centre in the KW community.

Action

We set up a booth at the Kitchener Rangers game on Nov. 14. We handed out information sheets detailing CPAC's purpose and the programs we run to get the community more familiar with us.

Barriers

No barriers.

Results

It was a successful trip to the game as we were able to give information sheets to about 45-50 members of the community. There was a message announced over the PA system to the arena giving information about CPAC and our logo was displayed on the jumbo-tron throughout the game.

Cost

CPAC poster: $70

Intent

Connect with the KW YMCA to share knowledge and information as well as help each other with programming needs.

Action

The YMCA has agreed to donate free 3-month family memberships to each student who participates in CPAC programming. This is a new partnership and we will continue to explore ideas that could be mutually beneficial. 

Barriers

None for the time being.

Results

We were able to find common ground in the goals of our organizations and the YMCA stepped up to offer the three-month memberships to our participants. They liked the idea of us providing short-term physical activity initiatives and they could help out with where we could steer students once they have finished our eight-week program.

Cost

Free

Intent

The intent of participating in Kidspark was to raise awareness about CPAC and our fall programs.

Action

We set up two activities. One was a nutrition game where we provided a plate to kids that had specific sections of protein/fruits and veggies/ grains and different buckets with examples of the food groups. Kids chose foods they liked and put them on their plate in the corresponding section. We also had a fitness circuit set up for children and parents to participate in. Two undergrads volunteered to help for the day.

Barriers

One barrier was we don't have a website up and running yet, so when parents asked about where to find more information I had to send them to our Facebook and Twitter pages, which don't have as much information as a website would.

Another barrier was that we didn't have the exact plans set up for the programming dates/times in the fall. Next time we will hand out pamphlets with the schedule.

Results

With the resources we had, Kidspark was a success. We had approximately 100 kids and parents visit our tent throughout the day. If we had some giveaways, it would have created more interest in our exhibit and would have created a way to get parents to come to the tent, instead of just the kids. Having said that, we had numerous parents express a lot of interest in our program and were extremely happy a program like this exists. A number of them were single mothers or low socio-economic families who can't afford to send their children to other physical activity programming. We gave away many brochures about our program and hopefully this helped raise awareness about CPAC to members of the community.

Cost

• CPAC poster: $30
• Kidspark entry fee: $226
• Total: $256

Intent

After securing funding through Laurier's Student Life Levy Grant, CPAC wanted to lead a Pedometer Challenge on campus for all students, staff and faculty.

Action

CPAC partnered with Michael VanBussel and his Business Administration class to aid in the execution of the Laurier Pedometer Challenge. A CPAC representative visited the class to detail expectations and goals for the Pedometer Challenge and after that point was in contact with VanBussel and the students to ensure success. Prizes would be awarded to participants with the highest step counts that day, and for the entire week.

Barriers

It would have been nice for the students to have a little bit more time to market the challenge so more people had the opportunity to learn and register. Also, the platform we used (UWalk) had a few technical glitches that caused some Android users to have difficulty tracking accurate results. Additionally, if a participant used UWalk and a personal device (examples being a Garmin watch or FitBit) then their steps would actually count twice. This was caught by the class and were able to correct the results.

Results

In four days approximately 100 staff, students, and faculty recorded 3,077,677 steps, which translates roughly into 2,462 km. This was a very exciting result and a number of participants noted the challenge motivated them to get active and were hoping we would run another Pedometer Challenge next semester.

CPAC hired two Laurier graduate students to develop a survey regarding physical activity levels and nutrition behaviours which would be distributed to caregivers and youth in the community. After collecting the data, they will use statistical software to analyze the results and present their findings to CPAC board members during the winter 2018 semester. This information will be vital for CPAC's development of future programs moving forward. CPAC will use the information to plan and implement programs and services there is a strong need for in the community.

CPAC has been approached by a number of faculty members who are interested in using CPAC initiatives to conduct research initiatives. CPAC will accept proposals three times per year (January, May, August) and all proposals will be analyzed decided upon by CPAC advisory board members.

As CPAC has made more connections with the pubic and different community stakeholders, we have been approached by several interested parties who wish to ask CPAC to contribute to their cause or initiative. Similar to our Internal Grant process, we will accept proposals three times per year (January, May, August) and all proposals will be analyzed decided upon by CPAC advisory board members.

Hoops and Spikes is an eight-week, collaborative program with the Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) and the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) with the goal of developing physical literacy in children ages 6 to 9 (FUNdamental stage) by increasing physical activity participation opportunities.

Hoops and Spikes will teach children the fundamental skills needed for basketball and volleyball – agility, balance, coordination and speed. Children will complete and progress through levels, earning badges for each achievements. The program will conclude with a culminating event that will allow the children to showcase their skills in a fun and festive environment.

In addition, the program will train program leaders (Laurier Kinesiology student volunteers) in the NCCP FMS course (Fundamental Motor Skills) and the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (PLAY) tool. This training will provide leaders with the skills to properly teach and assess participants across the province.

The Hoops and Spikes program will be run on Tuesday nights from 6–7 p.m. at St. David's Catholic Secondary School for eight weeks beginning Jan. 23.

CPAC's After-School program is designed for children in Grades 4-6 and teaches sportsmanship and sports skills through games and experimentation. The program provides participants the opportunity to explore new games and sports in a fun and interactive environment.

CPAC aims to improve activity levels and the overall health of youth within the community. Activities are led by Laurier's kinesiology and physical education students. Students are highly qualified, have obtained a Vulnerable Sector Police Check, and have experience teaching and coaching youth in sports.

This program will be run on Monday nights at Queen Elizabeth Public School from 6:30-8 p.m. for eight weeks, beginning Jan. 22.

We will be continuing our partnership with Franklin Public School next semester and are excited about expanding our program to Howard Robertson Public School. During this program, CPAC volunteers (Laurier graduate or fourth-year students) lead a group of students through various physical activity games. The goal of this program is to provide an opportunity for students to perform physical activities before school starts. Franklin's program will take place Thursday mornings for 10 weeks and Howard Robertson's program will take place on Wednesday mornings.

We have partnered with Build Our Kids Success (BOKS), a grassroots movement started in 2009 by Executive Director Kathleen Tullie whose research findings provided compelling evidence on how physical activity supercharges mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen thinking and enhance memory in kids. A sedentary life combined with poor eating habits can lower kids' performance in the classroom and start a cycle of health problems later in life. Studies show that kids who exercise regularly see significant boosts in intelligence-test scores and core subjects at school, compared to their inactive peers.

CPAC has partnered with Better Beginnings Waterloo to host students at Cedarbrae Public School. The students will participate in the eight-week Movement Skills program on Thursdays from 3:45-4:30 p.m., led by Laurier kinesiology students. Through fun games and sports students will learn fundamental movement skills, such as throwing, catching, jumping and skipping, that are essential in forming the basis for future sports skill development and for the lifelong enjoyment of physical activity. Participants will meet after school in the gym starting Jan. 25 until April 5.

We will break down simple skills into key components to help the child learn and understand. Physical literacy is the ability for an individual to move competently and confidently in all types of environments. Fundamental movement skills are very important in the physical development of a child. Most importantly, having a firm grasp of the fundamental movement skills and being physically literate can lead a child to enjoy a long life of physical activity.

This program run by Philip Martin, a former elementary school teacher in Waterloo Region. He saw a pressing need for students to have formal training on bike safety, rules of the road, basic maintenance and biking skills. He noticed that parents send their children for swimming lessons, but there is no formal training when it comes to riding a bike. Cycling into the Future is a formal bike training course for Grade 5 students that consists of six different sessions which addresses curriculum expectations in health and physical education as well as science and technology.

The cost of the program is $40 and fifty per cent of that is subsidized by sponsorship. The remainder is to be covered by the families, or school if the family can't afford it. If the student doesn't have a bike or helmet, Cycling into the Future will them a free refurbished bike or a new helmet. They also provide training to students who do not know how to ride a bike before the program begins.

CPAC's partnership with Cycling into the Future program will be more explicitly detailed in early January. Some potential areas of support we will provide include:

Program Evaluation

Philip mentioned that he gives out a survey to each school once he completes a program, but he struggles to quantify how much success the program is actually having. He sees a strong need to have help in addressing this piece.

Instructors

The busy seasons for this program are spring/fall and the populations of instructors are recent graduates/young people trying to figure out the next step in their career. The main concern for Philip is that instructors must be CanBike certified so it takes time and money to become certified but retaining their instructors from season to season is not easy. They also have a big demand for the program from schools, but do not have enough instructors to meet this need so they have to turn some schools down. They would like to hire a few full-time employees to help with this as well as have an intern in the summer to help out.

Cost

Philip would like to see the cost of the program to be decreased so there is not a financial burden on families. Even though the school will pay the fee for families who do not have the funds, many families do not reach out and therefore their child misses out on this opportunity.

Bikes

Since the program gives away a used/refurbished bike to each student who doesn't have one, they have a high demand for the 24" frame bikes. They also struggle to find enough bike enthusiasts to volunteer their time to fix up the bikes that are donated but need repairs.