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GOLD: GRADES 6 AND UP CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM ATHLETE STORIES SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5 BRONZE: GRADES 2 AND 3 SIMON WHITFIELD HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING www.olympicschool.ca CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM ATHLETE STORIES SIMON WHITFIELD HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING Creating a Canadian Olympic Learning Environment This year’s Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) is the most comprehensive yet. Each Athlete story, featuring a well-known Canadian Olympian or Olympic hopeful, is brought to life TEACHING GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS with activities that engage students in literacy, physical activity, character challenges, numeracy extensions and audio and video podcasts. Current curriculum theory Through these values-based Athlete stories, students discover that Canadian athletes reached great success not only through tremendous physical talents, but also through character and emphasizes the importance of intelligence. Complementing these captivating stories is the Summer Sports Day resource and reinforcing value messages through Personal Best Challenges. Together, these resources create a foundation for teachers to inspire narratives, storytelling, art, posters, their students to exercise their mind, body and character. drama, and physical movement. COSP is designed in accordance with the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Pierre de Coubertin’s, philosophy of Olympism. By recognizing the value of Olympians and Olympic Activities based on the stories, hopefuls as role models, the program engages students with the joy found in effort while blending events, ceremonies and symbols sport with culture and education. The Athlete stories balance intellectual instruction, cultural of the Olympic Games have school- development and physical education. The heart of our curriculum focuses on participation, effort and the pride in knowing you have given your all to the pursuit of excellence. wide relevance. Olympic Values as Educational Tools The worldwide Olympic values of leadership, respect and healthy active living act as a foundation Group sizes for activities will be for these stories. Each Athlete story will focus on the development of a character value within your students. By engaging students in each narrative, they have the opportunity to expand indicated by the following icons: their understanding of this value and to expand their moral capabilities. As well, Personal Best Challenges will challenge students to reach their personal best by applying the values in their Independent Activity everyday life at school, at home or in the community. Finding the Joy in Effort To mimic the physical development of Olympians, each Athlete story links students to physical Small Group Activity activities in our Canadian Olympic resources. These movement activities will encourage students to develop physical skills over time. Students, much the same as Olympians, must first learn movement skills that enable them to balance, walk, run, jump, skip and throw proficiently. Large Group Activity That helps set the stage for them to master more complex movement skills and become more proficient in sport. Being physically active is critical to the development of healthy students encouraging them to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They can move their bodies in creative, intelligent ways that demonstrate their ability to adapt to different situations. Such individuals enjoy success in a range of physical activities, and are more likely to be motivated to adopt healthy behaviours in all aspects of life. Blending Sport with Culture and Education Each Athlete story is tailored to three reading levels: Bronze (grades 2 and 3), Silver (grades 4 and 5), and Gold (grades 6 and into secondary school). Each comes with progressive activities that are open- ended and tailored to address a diverse range of learning styles and proficiencies. They focus on six main facets of understanding: explaining, interpreting, applying, taking perspective, empowering and developing self- knowledge. These critical thinking skills are woven into all three stages of the learning sequence in order to promote deeper understanding of the values and concepts. Through many facets of the 2011-2012 Canadian Olympic School Program, children and youth can connect values to their lives at home, at school and in their local community. Perhaps they can begin to see their world in new and different ways. 2 www.olympicschool.ca CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM ATHLETE STORIES SIMON WHITFIELD GOLD: GRADES 6 AND UP HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING YOU HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY HEALTHY AND MENTALLY CONNECTING Building a foundation HEALTHY. YOU NEED TO EAT for new learning WELL. YOU NEED TO HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE... PROCESSING Using strategies to acquire and use knowledge TRANSFORMING Showing understanding in a new way 3 www.olympicschool.ca CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM ATHLETE STORIES SIMON WHITFIELD GOLD: GRADES 6 AND UP HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING Simon Whitfield spies the red ribbon of the finish line. His spirits rise. The crowd is going wild. He’s in first place, and he’s having a blast! Even with his legs feeling very heavy and hurting, and feeling the heat from the Beijing sun as he has been racing for almost two hours, his spirits rise when he sees the crowd. “I love the thrill of a close race,” says Simon. “I thrive on that energy and pressure.” Simon is a triathlete and triathlon is an extremely challenging Olympic event. Competitors swim, then bike, and then run. It can be grueling, especially when the temperatures are high. “You have to be ready and you have to be healthy,” says Simon. “That means physically healthy and mentally healthy. This means you need to eat well and have a good attitude or you can’t compete.” At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Simon won the very first Olympic triathlon. He survived a bike crash early in the race and a shirt that shrank as soon as he stepped out of the water. He won in a blistering sprint to the finish line. MY BEST RESULTS HAVE COME IN RACES“ WHERE I JUST WORRY ABOUT MY PERFORMANCE – DOING THE BEST I CAN, LEAVING NOTHING BEHIND.” Of course, Simon was 25 years old in Sydney, and in Beijing he’s 33 years old. His results haven’t been as dominating since his convincing win in 2000, and critics say he’s past his prime or told old to continue in this sport. They are not expecting him to be leading the race in Beijing. Simon knows something many experts don’t, however. He’s rediscovered the personal attitude that helped him win in Sydney. “My goal in a race is to challenge myself to do my best,” he says. “My worst races are the ones where I’ve cared about medals or winning, and that’s what happened between 2000 and 2008. My best results have come in races where I just worry about my performance,doing the best I can, leaving nothing behind.” 4 www.olympicschool.ca CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM ATHLETE STORIES SIMON WHITFIELD GOLD: GRADES 6 AND UP HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING At the heart of Simon’s attitude is the idea of enjoying the foods and junk foods right out. Even in high school I knew moment, finding a sense of play in all the hard work. that when I ate good food, I felt better.” “You need the right attitude,” he says. “I didn’t come from Simon’s body and mind are in total balance today; he is an intense sport background. I just loved to play. I was now neck-and-neck with another runner, a much younger the kid who was always on the phone calling my friends triathlete from Germany named Jan Frodeno. to come outside and play football, soccer, basketball, Simon’s mind is clear and he knows he’s doing his best;– hockey… whatever!” win or lose. The pressures of the Olympic Games can be Simon suggests that sense of fun can help an athlete overwhelming, and he has had to manage a lot of stress overcome the pressure and stress they put on themselves. to arrive at this point in the race without psyching himself It is normal for athletes to feel somewhat nervous or feel out. “I rely a lot on my Dad,” he says. “We talk a lot before as if their heart is racing before a competition. This means my big races, and he always tells me: ‘Don’t let the fog roll that they care a great deal about their performance and in.’ By fog he means all the concerns and worries about want to perform at their best. things I can’t control.” “The mental and the physical are absolutely linked,” says There’s no time for worries now. Simon’s focus intensifies Simon. “If you put yourself under too much pressure, or with every stride, as he strains toward the finish. He rallies worry too much, then that affects your ability to perform.” all his strength as the battle with Frodeno enters its final stages. The two athletes sprint frantically for the victory. Eating right was also something Simon learned as a kid. Simon sees that Frodeno is pulling away as the finish line “Food is such a huge part of it, so you can’t just open your gets closer by the second. He’s performing at his very best, gob (mouth) and stuff anything inside. Cut the processed pressing the most from every weary muscle fiber. Frodeno takes the lead with just a few steps to go, breaking the ribbon meters ahead of Simon. The crowd erupts in thunderous cheers as Simon crosses the finish line for his unlikely Olympic silver medal. Exhausted, he walks over to Frodeno and congratulates him. Simon’s smile continues to grow as he realizes how well he’s performed. He has managed the anxiety of competing at the Olympic Games by keeping it fun. He’s had a good play.

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