Play-it-Forward Projects kicked off 2014 with a powerful project at Dene Tha’ Community School, a First Nations kindergarten through grade 10 school in Chetah, Alberta
It was a very successful mission to pass on our passion of Play and sports to all the children, staff, parents, leaders and elders of the Dene Tha' community. We had countless hours of laughter with our volunteer team of Joelle, Melanie and myself. The stories and memories we shared are some that I will cherish forever. I was honored to have the opportunity to share our Play it Forward project sports and play educational manual to the teachers and I feel they will be able to now continue our program so the children and leaders can benefit from Sports and Play. The Modules that we taught were easy to follow and the games and activities were a hit with all who participated. Young and Old all had fun with this program and it was awesome because it was so contagious. We can't tell you how hard this accomplishment was and it is hard to describe what we were up against to try to motivate everyone to play.
It was really humbling to spend time with the children of the school and see the hardships they face. Some of them have so many pressures and setbacks that you will never imagine how hard it is for the children to really be great in this environment. Through this project we were able to in our very small way reach out to the participants and show them we care and also to make them believe in themselves and let their guard down to enjoy and really play!