When his daughter told him how distraught she was over a cancelled volleyball season, Eric Schwindt saw how the teachers’ job action was hitting extracurricular activities in rural areas particularly hard. He decided to take action, taking the issue to the Waterloo Region District School Board.
At Monday night’s WRDSB meeting, Schwindt and five Floradale Public School students approached trustees as a delegation to plead a case for local volunteers and parents who might be able to take over some extracurricular activities at the Floradale school, at least until the unions sort things out.
“As a predominately rural school, many students do not have access to the different activities that are commonly available in city centers. Coupled with the large Mennonite population, extracurricular activities provided by the school are of relatively higher significance than may be seen in other school areas,” Schwindt told trustees.
He argued that students in rural areas are much more dependent on school activities than students living in urban areas, as they don’t have the same access to other engaging outlets.
At a parent council meeting, parents discussed “priority areas” of extracurricular activities and what resources parents and volunteer may be able to offer, Schwindt said at the meeting before the students’ presentation to on the importance of extracurricular activities.
“It was interesting. The trustees were impressed with the group of students, definitely understanding that this is something we need to fix somehow. Extracarriculars are too important for students not to have something in place,” he said on Tuesday.
He asked the board to look at what resources may be available for positive change and to encourage communications between school principals and councils. He also asked that the board review volunteer policies, citing the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, which allows volunteers to run activities following a police check.
Committee members were receptive, and Schwindt said WRDSB director of education Linda Fabi will be speaking to colleagues at other boards to see how they incorporate their volunteers. It is not a simple task, as volunteers taking on activities must be under the supervision of school staff.
“I understand legal liabilities are always a concern,” he said of the arguments raised by the committee.
The students spoke to trustees on how the dispute between the province and teachers unions has affected them and their experiences at school.
The girls talked about the importance of sports teams and the expenses schools go to raise money for new equipment every year. They spoke of how extracarriculars often prepare older students for high school sports teams.
“You say we need more activities but then take our sports away, children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day everyday. Sure we can do activities at home, but we have other stuff to do. We can do sport teams outside of school, but that takes away from homework, family time and it costs us money,” they said in their presentation.
Their speech “Floradale School Asks For School Teams” has been uploaded to YouTube.
