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JOEY DESJARDINS OFFERS LIFE LESSONS TO STUDENTS
KINDERGARTNERS CREATE DIGITAL STORYBOOK ABOUT ROSA PARKS
L’athlète de classe mondiale Joey Desjardins est revenu à son alma mater le 2 mars pour s’entretenir avec les étudiants des cours de kinésiologie et d’éducation physique du Vankleek Collegiate Institute. —photo fournie
EAP NEWSROOM gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Paralympian Joey Desjardins rolled into Vankleek Collegiate institute for a meet- and-greet with students. The champion athlete talked to students during a March 2 visit about the trials and tribulations he faced in his athletic career after an accident left him paralyzed from the waist down and how he overcame that and other obstacles on his part to a World Cup title in paracycling. Desjardins’ talk followed after a video presentation of his World Cup podium finish. “I still get goosebumps from watching that” he said. Desjardins made a point of trying to answer every question put to him by students. He reminisced about his own days as a VCI student and encouraged his young audience to enjoy to the full their time at school because he remembers his VIC days as «great times,» including all the hours he spent in the automotive shop working on his dirt bike. Talking about his accident, Desjardins told students that «you have to live with risks every day and that you must know what those risks are, and that they can affect a lot more people than you think.» He added that he was lucky to have the support system that he did to get through his early struggles, physically and emotionally, after the accident. His family, friends, and Vanessa, his girlfriend then who later became his wife, were all people that were affected by his injury. «Sometimes we make decisions without always thinking about the other who may be affected by our choices,» Desjardins said. «We think that if I get hurt, break a leg, sprain a wrist, it will only affect me. We don’t always think about how more devastating injuries might affect others around us.» Getting back on track Many students assembled for the meeting with Desjardins looked thoughtful as he described who, after his accident, life for him became a history of «checking boxes». Sitting up in bed by himself; check. Transferring himself from one place to another; check. Getting his driver’s licence; check. Now, Desjardins noted, the boxes are becoming a lot more pleasant to check. Getting married, having children, travelling to different places, and setting high goals for himself in his cycling career are all boxes
that he continues to check off. After talking about his injury, Desjardins described the path that shaped his future athletic career. He was introduced to biking and a few other potential sports such as skiing, but he felt that biking was the best avenue for him. Leaving his wheelchair for his parabike gives him «a huge feeling of independence». He also observed that this is now the risk that he takes. “Getting stuck with the bike, is a lot different than getting stuck with the chair,» he said. «I don’t want to be 40 kilometres from my house and get stuck with my bike.” Desjardins brought two parabikes with him to show the students. He described the two bikes as “one for business”, indi- cating his racing bike, and “this one is my toy”, pointing to his new, battery-powered mountain bike. He let students try his bikes and also demonstrated the ease with which he now manages either one. He talked about his experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he placed eighth in the road race and 11th in the time trials. He recalled it as «an unbelievable experience» and his sights are now set on competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Desjardins wrapped up his talk with an outline of his training regimen and travel plans, including his upcoming roadwork training schedule. He intends to be wheeling along outdoors as soon as possible this spring, even if there is still some snow on the ground along his routes. Meanwhile, Desjardins has a training camp in North Carolina to attend. He noted these training camp sessions are essential for athletes like him. During the winter he tries to do between 50 and 70 kilometres a day of cycling, either stationary or on an indoor track to maintain his physical condition.
The children in the Pleasant Corners Public School Kindergarten class learned a lesson about standing up against injustice with their Black History Month project to create a digital storybook about Rosa Parks, the woman who sparked the U.S. civil rights movement. —supplied photo
about kindness, treatment of others, and taking action on things that everyone can control versus what they can’t. “This class has been working very hard and it makes me so happy to get the privilege of sharing their hard work,” said Schwendemann. The class was joined by UCDSB Vice-Chair Corina Parisien and Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden (who grew up in Vankleek Hill) for the final day of voice recording and these discussions. “This real-world learning opportunity is a unique and special project,” said PCPS Principal Laura Kirby. “Valuable life lessons were discussed, and they have a digital version of a story as a reminder.” “I am very proud of this group of young learners,” said Parisien. “They are touching on many of the UCDSB Character Always traits: Responsibility, Fairness, Respect, Caring, Honesty, Generosity, Empathy, Cou- rage, Perseverance, and Resiliency.” The PCPS Kindergarten class Story of Rosa Parks is available to view on the UCDSB YouTube channel at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=VpWiWv0de7M&feature=y outu.be.
EAP NEWSROOM news@eap.on.ca
Pleasant Corners Public School Kindergarten students are learning about Rosa Parks for Black History Month and used the opportunity to write, illustrate and narrate a digital storybook as a class project. The class worked in collaboration with Craig Cardiff, Canadian singer and songwriter, and his company Song Collab Studio, to animate and voice their book, The Story of Rosa Parks. The writing portion of the book was student-led, based on questions and dis- cussions during planning sessions with the students, Pleasant Corners Public School (PCPS) teacher Stacy Schwendemann, Early Childhood Educator Anna Martin and Car- diff’s Song Collab Studio used hand-drawn student artwork, along with digitally-drawn illustrations and student narration to com- plete the digital storybook. The class had a final day of voice recor- ding February 22, took part in a sing-along with Cardiff, and had serious discussions
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