Two Stratford Intermediate School (SIS) teachers have been recognized by the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) for their initiatives to engage students.
Tracey James Britton and Jenna Lange were awarded for their dedication to the SIS Sports Camp. The two said they are very thankful for being recognized for the work they do as well as for their coworkers’ nomination.
“We feel very honored that we were considered and won this award based on our initiatives and co-workers' nominations,” Lange said. “One of our big initiatives that the two of us like to do every year, with this being our fourth year or third year, we run a camp, so Tracy and I invite our feeder school students to. If they're interested in attending a sports camp that we run for a week just to kind of give the kids an idea of what the buildings look like and to get to know new students,”.
She said they know how intimidating it can be coming from a small school to a big school. Lange said Tracey will run the basketball and she will run the volleyball and just try to begin that community building for those incoming grade seven students, so that when they land at the intermediate school in September they feel like they already belong and are part of the community.
Britton said it all ties into the ‘I Am Engaged’ pillar to get connected with the school prior to coming.
“When I look at some of the things that [AMDSB] outlined along with the camp that Jenna was talking about is the incorporation of the hands-on activities in a number of different aspects and involving the community,” she said. “I think that's one of the things that I think we both find that consistently engages students and gets many connected with the community,”.
Lange said the camp they were running on Tuesday July 2nd goes from July 2-5, where they spend the mornings with about 20 to 22 campers who come in and play basketball and volleyball.
Britton added that supporting the AMDSB’s strategy really links into keeping kids engaged by involving the community, whether it be the camps we run prior to school starting or connecting with the YMCA, the tennis, Badminton, Rugby Club or pickleball clubs, and even Jiu Jitsu. She said it's just incorporating all of those initiatives throughout the year.
“The other piece is the indigenous incorporation. From a cultural perspective in many of our PE classes we will include that as part of what we do. Especially with the indigenous games so we incorporate it a bit, like for example the Alaskan high kick.” Britton said.
When it comes to what drives the two, both said they are firm believers in the fact that there is an activity and/or community involvement for every student.
Lange said finding some entry point that keeps these kids engaged matters most.
“We've taken the standpoint of looking at health and physical activity and how to connect these kids with resources and community that would benefit them,” she said. “And recognizing that there are many avenues that they can access. Hoping that will find some way to keep them connected whether or not it's through using programs at the YMCA.”
In terms of feedback, Lange said anytime that they have run the sports SIS camp, they were successful at having students show up and often get positive feedback from the students as they are leaving the building.
“We've had returning campers who attended when they're coming from grade six into the grade 7, and then will attend it from grade 7 to 8. So the repeat campers are certainly a positive indicator,” she said.
Two more local teachers were recognized by the I AM Engaged program: Luke van Schaik from Romeo Public School and Rebecca Wilson from Stratford District Secondary School.
