UNITY — With students at Unity Composite High School becoming accustomed to normal, events and activities within the school are becoming more prevalent. The UCHS Activate Team was included in the calendar of events.
The Activate initiative promotes positive, inclusive and kind environments. This is done by hosting activities, projects, making artwork and through random acts of kindness. Activate has expanded and is being promoted all around the province.
In the spring of 2022, students hosted a culture fair and Grade 8 dessert auction to benefit a month-long Ukraine relief initiative.
May 20, students that are part of the Activate team re-introduced their annual Activate day.
Co-chair Reid Martin, says, “Activate Day is a celebration of what we have been able to do over the past school year to spread our beliefs of kindness and inclusion. Our classes have worked so hard on their projects, and we are so excited to show the school what they have done, too.”
Reid said bringing back Activate Day after a two-year break required some restructuring to fit into a shorter time slot.
The day’s celebration consisted of video highlighting of each project. There were also a number of draws for participating students.
“This was a huge labour of love from our Leadership Class, Positive School Climate Committee and Activate Team. We have had lots of fun getting this ready and were excited for the school to see this and to be able to lay the groundwork for future generations of Activators,” says Reid.
Messages throughout the program also included an interview with Unity KidSport’s Nicole Headrick along with a message from past Activator, Emma Baker.
“We were so lucky to have the Grade 5s from UPS join us for this celebration, too. Activate projects came from St. Peter's Grade 4s, UPS Grade 5s, as well as Grades 7a and b, 8, 10, 11, and 12 from UCHS.”
The UCHS Activate team includes Reid and Jace Ducherer as co-chairs and they are supported by team members, Carrie Poitras, Kerrigan Bowey, Logan Middleton, Kaitlyn Nestmann, Emma Strus, Kristen Kruetzer, Dahlia Rafid-Hamed, Emily Smith and Kristine Hansen.
Students were also surprised by Jim Shevchuk, current principal at Norman Carter School in Wilkie, and representative of the Battlefords Ukrainian Canadian Council who came to thank UCHS students and the Activate team for their part in Project Ukraine and awarded Reid with a special honour as well.
You can find out more about the Activate initiative at UCHS https://activatedotuchs.wordpress.com/contest-details/ or follow them on Facebook or Instagram for the latest updates.
