Plan Your Play: The Nature Playbook

ForestDayGr1-3_2017-2987
Robin Friesen with Junior School students at Pacific Spirit Park

This year, our very own Coordinator of Outdoor Education and Risk Management, Robin Friesen, together with a team of people selected from across Canada, wrote a book to inspire Canadians to get outdoors with their families. Published with Parks Canada, The Nature Playbook invites Canadians to take action to connect a new generation of Canadians with nature.

The idea of this book is to try and give families, teachers, and human beings in general, a tool to use for brainstorming how they are going to get themselves, their loved ones, and their community outside. We know that our society has increasingly shifted towards staying inside more and more. But there is a growing body of research that points to the benefits of getting outside and connecting with nature including physical health, emotional health, mental health, and stress reduction.

As we head into summer, we hope that you can take minute to take a look at this book online or download a copy for the whole family to review and plan your play! Congratulations to Robin and the team of writers who were able to launch this very important work this year!

Yorkies “Walk in Her Shoes” for International Women’s Day

On Friday, March 3, YHS staff and students joined the “walk in her shoes” challenge in support of Care Canada, for International Women’s Day.

Everyone came out in their civvies, dressed to walk in the rain. The Zumba Club led a warm-up in the gym, our Gr. 1-3 students were paired with their Grade 10 or 12 “buddy” from the Senior School, and then we were off!

It was wonderful to come together for this school-wide community event in support of women and girls around the world. We walked for human rights, inclusion, hope, justice, equality, and people’s access to basic needs such as water, food, healthcare, and education.

Care Canada is an international humanitarian organization that works with communities around the world to fight global poverty while defending dignity. For more information on their mission visit http://care.ca/about-us and for more information about Walk In Her Shoes visit http://care.ca/walk.