Sarah Thompson ready for Sochi

Times Reporter   

 

Roughly 300 Sarah Thompson School students filled their gym in Langdon on Feb. 6, for an Olympic kick-off pep rally, with special guest Robyn Raymond in attendance. Raymond, the sport coordinator for Bobsleigh Canada, Skeleton, and Luge, coordinated with teachers Sean Hartley and Amber Mrak to get Sarah Thompson pumped for Sochi 2014.

“We just want in our mandate as Bobsleigh Canada to reach out and make people excited about it,” Raymond said. “Leading up to the Games it’s super important to get the little kids inspired. It’s not just a national movement, it’s something that Canada’s known for – involving our youth, trying to get them involved in play and activity as early as possible.”

Raymond mentioned that kids as young as seven-years-old can start driving on the luge track. For sports such as bobsled and skeleton, kids can begin training in their later teen years.

Raymond also took videos and photos to send to the Olympians in Russia, with the students shouting the Canadian slogan “We Are Winter”, to inspire them while overseas. She herself though, feels the inspiration as well.

“I love it. I can’t put any amount of dollars on that feeling,” Raymond said. “Having people get excited about me relaying things about our sport is very close to my heart.”

Each class at Sarah Thompson signed up to learn about a specific Olympic sport, and made trifold displays to decorate the school’s hallways. Classes will be keeping track throughout the Winter Games to see how each country does, especially Canada.

“All the classes learned about a sport. The students they were all so engaged and they got really excited about the Olympics,” said teacher Sean Hartley, of Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics. “I’m extremely passionate about it. It’s a great opportunity to bring that to the students. They’re going to be really excited throughout the month, especially about the sport they’ve been learning about.”

Teacher Amber Mrak says the Olympics help the students with global awareness, as they can relate, connect and feel the experience of watching the athletes.

“When brainstorming words that we thought described the Olympics, I had a little boy talk about the word ‘goosebumps’. I had other students offer the word ‘proud’ and ‘pride’,” Mrak said. “In the minds of a seven-year-old, it’s pretty remarkable they can use those words and actually understand.”

The entire school gathered once more to watch the opening ceremonies together. Teachers also plan on live-streaming events in their classrooms, along with making announcements with Olympic updates.