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Get outside! UGDSB celebrates Take Me Outside Day

October 26, 2016

GUELPH, Ontario – Wednesday is Take Me Outside Day and the Upper Grand District School Board, along with hundreds of other Canadian school boards, is participating in this initiative. Over the last few years, a trend has been noticed that shows a large number of Canadian students are spending up to eight hours a day in front of a screen, whether it is watching TV, playing video games, using the computer, smart phone or tablet.

Founder and Executive Director of Take Me Outside, Colin Harris has dedicated his life to promoting a healthy balance of outside time vs. screen time. Five years ago, Colin ran from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia (over 7,600 kilometers). While executing this nine month run, Colin stopped at 80 schools and spoke with nearly 20,000 students about achieving a healthy outdoor-indoor balance. As a result of Colin’s run, once a year Canadian schools celebrate Take Me Outside Day, this day sees nearly 250,000 students spending at least one hour outside where they learn the importance of stepping away from “the screen.”

Today the UGDSB saw lots of school participation, and we could not be happier to see our students and teachers raising awareness for this initiative. Scroll down for updates on how some UGDSB schools celebrated the day. If you have photos to share, tweet them to @ugdsb.

June Avenue Public School

All grades at June Ave. decided to embrace Take Me Outside Day! Grade 1 /2 and Grade 5, played capture the flag, Grade 6 students made plans for the June Ave. raised garden, Kindergarten and Grade 1 classes had a scavenger hunt, Grade 4/5 classes went on a Muir walk and Grade 3/4 classes played a prey / predator game.

Island Lake Public School

At Island Lake Public School, students and staff participated in a rotation of activities outside. For two blocks of the day, teams of students engaged in a variety of activities like Tug of War, Schlockey, PassBall, Skipping and Bubble blowing. The day was organized by Sarah Laughton, a teacher at ILPS, who created mixed grade teams and had Grade 8 students led the events.

John Galt Public School

John Galt students were so excited to participate in Take Me Outside Day. The students played games that helped them strengthen their team work skills.

Parkinson Centennial Public School

Students at Parkinson Centennial PS really enjoyed playing games that taught them the importance of spending time outside. Ms. Robertson’s Grade 2 class bundled up to learn math, spelling and science.

Glenbrook Elementary School

Glenbrook students embraced the chill in the air and had so much fun on Take Me Outside Day, the students worked together to play games, make crafts and tend to school gardens.

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