Beyond books: local school awarded provincial certification

THUNDER BAY –A modern school is much more than classrooms and books.

There’s a holistic approach needed too, said St. Thomas Aquinas School principal Frank Lacaria on Wednesday, after his school was awarded a healthy school gold certification from the Ontario Physical Health Education Association, an organization that champions healthy, active living.

One of four Thunder Bay schools to earn the designation this year – the others being Hammarskjold High School, St. James Public School and St. Bernard School – Lacaria said they worked hard for the certification.

“Using a healthy schools approach to me is the best way to prepare students for learning,” Lacaria said. “When you prepare the students in terms of physical, mental, emotional and of course spiritual, then the student can come to school and be ready to learn.

“That’s where the academics fall into place. You can’t put the cart before the horse and that’s truly what the healthy schools approach has allowed us to do. And it’s really benefited our children to do that.”

It’s more important now than ever before, he added, saying students have enough distractions that keep them away from physical activity.

School doesn’t have to be another one.

The new direction began a year ago with the introduction of active playgrounds during recess.

“Our Grade 6 students become leaders and they lead our primary students through a variety of activities,” Lacaria said. “We did that in outdoor recess and indoor recess during the winter months when it was too cold to go outside.”

That was Step 1.

Step 2 was a combination of an investment of new play equipment and an intramural program run by the school’s teachers.

“The final phase was partnering with the City of Thunder Bay and the neighbourhood recreation program and that provided an opportunity for activities after school hours,” Lacaria said.

Ophea’s Lori Lukinuk said 107 schools in the province achieved certification, 54 of them gold.

It’s a collaborative effort that involves parents, students, staff and others in the community, she said.

“They come up with a plan and they figure out what a need is in their school. It could by physical, mental, addictions, healthy eating. There are a number of different things they can choose, and then they celebrate it afterward,” Lukinuk said.

“They’ve done a lot of great things at St. Thomas Aquinas.” 

Certification involves a six-step process and a points-based system.