(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

HEALTHY LIVING

Grow Boys and Go Girls events get grade fives moving and thinking about respect

May 9, 2019 | 11:11 AM

The annual Grow Boys conference, which takes aim at providing young males the knowledge of how to be resilient and respectful in life, took place Thursday at the G.H. Dawe Centre.

The eighth edition of the event featured 800 grade five students, plus 80 returning high school volunteers who participated in the past.

“We did a lot of lead-up research for about a year and half working with Red Deer College and several community stakeholders doing a scan of what boys are missing in the community,” said Sean Grainger, event coordinator and vice principal at Joseph Welsh Elementary.

“They need something positive to be involved with, a sense of belonging. That’s what we’re trying to nurture, and having hope and taking action on that hope, because a hope without action is wishful thinking.”

Prevention, Access, Recovery, and Coordination

Safe Harbour officially hands over shelter keys, establishes accessible navigation hub

11h ago

lacombe and sylvan lake

December 2025 (un)employment data released for Alberta sub-regions

12h ago

21 years with WCPS

Darcy Blum appointed principal of Lacombe Outreach School

13h ago

The respect aspect, not only for one’s self, but for others, was a key component of Grow Boys when it first launched, Grainger noted when asked if the #MeToo movement’s lessons have trickled down to this age level.

“We started this to allow boys opportunities to be real and authentic in an open and safe environment; getting in touch with what I would refer to as their feminine perspective,” he said

“That doesn’t mean we’re talking about gender identification, gender representation, or sexual orientation, we’re talking about the emotive side of all human beings and how boys have at times been stereotyped or pigeonholed into not feeling comfortable representing that part of themselves.”

Grow Boys activities included skateboarding and Pound It, to name a few.

Schools from Red Deer Public, Red Deer Catholic both participated in the event, as well as Ecole la Prairie.

—

Meanwhile, hundreds of grade five girls from across Red Deer were taking part in the annual Go Girls event at the Collicutt Centre.

Go Girls is aimed at introducing kids to a variety of healthy, active lifestyle choices.

(rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

Purnima Lindsay, Learning Services Coordinator for Red Deer Public Schools, said the Go Girls event was started 16 years ago with the partnership of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools.

“We wanted to help the girls become more physically active and understand wellness and just their self-image,” she explained. “We feel this is a really nice transition as we move into middle school to have a solid understanding of self-image. A lot of research has shown that after grade five, when girls go into middle school, they become less active and the confidence isn’t always there.”

Lindsay hopes the Go Girls event helps support that level of confidence.

“We want to give them that extra boost to try a variety of different activities that they may not have tried before, so today we’re offering 28 different things that the girls can participate in,” said Lindsay. “Some of the things that we highlight are lacrosse and soccer. We’ve also got some girls doing a pound exercise, golfing, nutrition sessions, yoga, hockey and field hockey.”

Lindsay hopes the kids learn new skills during the event and have a fun day of socializing.

“They’re not necessarily with their classmates, they get to be with kids from other schools and other districts,” adds Lindsay. “We’re hoping that they get to participate in a variety of fun events that they may take on as a life-long activity.”

In addition, the Grow Girls event was promoting the Participaction Community Better Challenge. Find out more by visiting participaction.com or by downloading the ParticipACTION mobile app.