Weight of the World Student Leadership Grants Awarded

PHE Canada is pleased to announce that a tremendous number of applications have been received for the Weight of the World Student Leadership Grants. To date twenty-four grants have been allocated to thirty-five post-secondary students across the country.









Here is the list of recipients:

Amanda Campbell
St. Francis Xavier University

Through the sport of rugby, Amanda hopes to teach students at Dr. J.H. Gillis High School in Antigonish, Nova Scotia the benefits of participating in a club or a team by teaching them about leadership and teamwork. The sport of rugby is a relatively new sport for the teachers and students of Dr. J.H Gillis High School and Amanda hopes to generate enough interest in the sport to create a school rugby team.

Laura Chubb
Memorial University

Kick Your Kicks and Take a Walk in THEIR Shoes, an initiative to be carried out by Laura will incorporate a shoe drive in support of Shoes4Africa, and an awareness walk to promote active healthy living both locally and internationally.

Rob Craig
Dalhousie University

Stay & Play @ Dal has been designed to enhance awareness of different leisure and recreation resources for students on and off the Dalhousie Campus. The main event will be a leisure resource fair held on campus. A partnership has also been developed with Dalhousie Recreational Services and Dalhousie Peer Health to promote varsity athletics, intramurals and current recreation opportunities available to students.

Laura Deighan
Memorial University

Taking from her experience at the 2009 PHE Canada Student Leadership Conference, Laura will be providing a workshop to promote the importance of leadership and teamwork at Memorial University.

Brandy Dewar
Brock University

In collaboration with six classmates, Brandy will be utilizing physical activity and sport as a tool to foster living skills within at-risk youth. Brandy will also be preparing a resource kit to circulate to schools and community centres in the Niagara area in hopes of promoting these living skills further.

Joy Dickie
St. Francis Xavier University

Joy will be developing an instructional booklet that will give physical education teachers the information and resources they will need to teach dances to their students that they will enjoy participating in. The booklet will consist of a repertoire of dances appropriate for a variety of ability levels. The booklet will be developed for educators from K-6.

Melissa Dinneen
Brock University

With the ultimate goal of enhancing and expanding physical activity opportunities for elementary and secondary school students, Melissa will be organizing a Coordinated Approach to Enhancing Physical Activity (CAEPA). This project will result in a number of lesson plans being delivered to students from kindergarten to grade twelve in the Niagara Region.

Hannah Ehrhardt
University of Toronto

In partnership with Orde Street Public School in Toronto, Ontario a “Fresh Fridays” healthy snack program is being developed. The goals of the “Fresh Fridays” snack program are to: reduce the occurrence of unhealthy snacking in students at Orde St. PS.; to educate students on the importance of healthy eating; to expose students to the diverse world of healthy snacking; to empower student leaders throughout the school and to enlist the support and help of various people throughout the school in order to increase the schools commitment to health.

Julie Godin
University of Calgary

Julie will be overseeing the creation of a nutritional handbook to present to University of Calgary students living on campus, to emphasize the importance of eating well and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.

Kristi Haavisto
University of British Columbia

Through a ten-lesson plan, Kristi aims to utilize the UBC Ropes Course to make connections to several units with a local elementary school class, while emphasizing a number of inter- and intrapersonal skills.

Whitney Halloran
St. Francis Xavier University

“All In!” Activity Kit. The main goal of this project is to increase the activity levels of children who are involved in after school programs within the community of Porters Lake, Nova Scotia and to provide the necessary equipment and game descriptions which will allow the kit to be used by students and teachers alike.

Teresa Hill
University of Saskatchewan

With a desire to promote healthy eating and active living, Teresa has established the In Motion Club, which has already demonstrated their commitment to physical activity at a recent assembly. The In Motion Club now has their sights set on organizing an In Motion Dance.

Kristin Janzen
University of Winnipeg

Marvelous Mondays. In partnership with West Park School in Winnipeg, Manitoba the Marvelous Monday's program will provide indoor and outdoor circuit activities on a schedule set-up to occupy lunch recess. This program will encourage students to be active during recess. Students will develop an understanding of the importance of making healthy decisions as part of daily living and will be able to share what they have learned with their families.

Jonathan MacGillivray
St. Francis Xavier University

Jonathan's project aims to introduce Omnikin or KinBall, an exciting, new game to the STFX school community, with the ultimate goal of establishing a KinBall Society, as well as rousing enough interest to start a KinBall Intramural League.

Sandy MacIntosh
St. Francis Xavier University

With his grant, Sandy will be introducing and teaching secondary and post-secondary students alike about the health benefits of being active while unicycling through his program, One Wheel for Fun and Fitness.

Vanessa MacLellan & Mandy Megan Conyers
Mount Saint Vincent University

Vanessa and Mandy's project, Facing the Challenge, will involve the creation of the MSVU Healthy Living Agenda for 2010, which will focus on practical healthy living activities. This will later be followed up with a number of 'wellness' events in January, the MSVU Wellness Month.

Mark McCaustlin
University of New Brunswick

Body Moving Monday's is a program being developed for the students and teachers at Caledonia Regional High School in New Brunswick. This project is designed to help make students as well as teachers, understand the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition. Cardiovascular training, flexibility, resistance training and healthy eating will all be practiced in this program.

Sara Meers, Kate Gray, Laura Gaspini, Jennifer Graham & Amie Revell
Queens University

These five recipients aim to make a healthy difference that starts at home by implementing a Winter Wonderland Day at a local elementary school. This event looks to include both outdoor and indoor activities to promote the idea of Healthy Heads, Healthy Hearts and Healthy Bodies.

Lindsay Moldenhauer, Steven Irinici & Chelsea Adair
University of Saskatchewan

These three recipients, with a local Saskatoon elementary school, look to improve the instruction of phys-ed classes with a focus on fundamental motor skills, enhance the intramural program through supportive resources, and to create a connection with the University of Saskatchewan.

Kassandra Mueller
University of Winnipeg

Kassandra will be working with a Manitoba elementary school to put on a Winter Olympics Winners program, which looks to incorporate both a number of gym class activities as well as an opening and closing ceremony for children in kindergarten to grade three.

Robyn Rowsell
Memorial University

Robyn will be implementing Happy Healthy Holidays, in hopes of engaging youth in rural Newfoundland, by giving them the opportunity to choose healthy lunches and allowing them to take part in regular physical activity over their lunch break.

Tyler Smith
St. Francis Xavier University

With a local high school, Tyler looks to establish an Annual Road Hockey Tournament where resources promoting healthy eating and active living can be provided to participants.

Janelle Taylor, Kailani King, Emily Rand & Tosha Lobsinger
Queens University

By making use of pedometer technology, these four recipients plan to promote physical activity as an important aspect of daily living for children, youth and adults alike.

Samantha Zanini & Jamie Humphrey
St. Francis Xavier University

Samantha and Jamie aim to unite a local elementary school through an increase in kindergarten to grade six students' appreciation and comprehension of the benefits of daily physical activity, by making use of daily physical activity kits.