The class led by teacher Kendra Gonczy is halfway through their year with the Classroom Champion program, having received their monthly challenge and message on Friday from their Olympic athlete, sprinter Sam Effah.
Once a month, the Grade 2 students don their blue “Classroom Champion” shirts with the message #dreambig on the back, and they hear a video where Effah speaks to them and challenges them in some way.
On Friday, his message was to “try harder, be patient and persevere”, as he related experiences from his own life about how he’s learned this lesson.
Effah noted he struggled to learn this last year as he got injured, and it took him a long time to recover and get back to the place he wanted to be.
“I worked so hard to get walking again, and then running,” he said, explaining he had had a goal of making the World Track and Field Championships, but had to miss due to his injury.
He had also wanted to take part in the Pan Am Games in Toronto, but he had to miss them as well.
“One thing I learned was patience, even though I didn’t accomplish what I wanted. The Olympic team is a long-term goal that I am shooting for. Even though you may not accomplish your goals, you learn a lot in the process,” said Effah.
“You have to treasure the time it takes to get there, not just the end result. You get used to challenging yourself, and in the end you become stronger,” he added.
His challenge to the class was to think of a challenge they had to overcome, and think of how they felt when they were able to accomplish something.
Gonczy asked the students what sort of challenges they had overcome, and received a variety of answers, including learning how to ride a two-wheeled bike, do cartwheels, climbing monkey-bars, or learning how to skate.
The class does the challenge once a month, and in December the children had the opportunity to do a live chat with Effah.
There will be a wrapup to the program in May and they may have a visit from Effah at that time.
