March 20, 2013

Grade 6 students at Blind River’s École Saint-Joseph met the “Disconnect and Move” challenge (défi Débranchez et bougez) that was offered, from January 21 to 25, to Francophone grade 5 and 6 students in the Greater Sudbury and Algoma districts. Organized by the Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury’s Youth Action team, this activity sought to motivate grade 5 and 6 teachers and students to reduce the time dedicated to technology on a daily basis and to increase the amount of time spent on physical activity. The group of students was rewarded with a bag of sports equipment.

École Saint-Joseph students were not intimidated by the challenge of replacing 30 daily minutes in front of a screen with 30 minutes of exercise for the whole week. With the support of their teacher Mrs. Heather Roberts, students exercised during 20 successive minutes in the classroom. In the gym, Mrs. Julie Chenard-Azzi demonstrated suitable exercises for children. A key element in their winning strategy was to coordinate group activities after school such as hockey and other physical activities in sports complex.

At the end of the week, students agreed that the challenge wasn’t as difficult as expected. “Even if we were not in front of the computer screen, we had a lot of fun since we were all together as a group,” stated Sophie Kennepohl, a student at École Saint-Joseph.

The Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario offers a French Catholic Educational Program that is widely recognized for its excellence. The CSCNO provides a quality learning environment and academic program that runs from early childhood to adult education, with some 7,000 students in 27 elementary and 10 secondary schools.