Students getting much needed escape from screens
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Throughout the years, schools across Prince Albert have made sure to incorporate outdoor physical activities to make sure their students are getting outside.
Now in the days of a pandemic, that has never been more important. While many sporting and physical activities have been shutdown or severely limited, some schools in the area like Riverside Public School are offering safe, outdoor activities like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
“It’s critically important. It’s a huge part of not only our phys-ed program and our land-based learning we do at Riverside, but also a part of their physical wellness,” Leanne Tretiak, principal at Riverside told paNOW. “We do significant work on the mental health of our staff and students as well, and getting kids outside connected to nature again, and being outside away from screens, away from technology and enjoying each other and enjoying the outdoors, it’s so critical to the development of the child.”
Riverside also engages students in “land-based learning,” teaching its kids how Indigenous peoples have learned to connect with nature and utilize what nature provides. Local Elders and knowledge keepers come in and teach the students.
