Resiliency Resources! (And Other Cool Stuff)

With the conference over it is now time to get to work and use the knowledge gained to keep working on building resiliency in schools. Here are some links that might help:

• Joseph Boyden’s powerful true story, The First Time I Died. During the gala evening Joseph spoke about this part of his life and also told us many other deeply personal and moving stories which he shared for the first time in public.


• Information on the Sudbury & District Health Unit’s Can You Feel It? campaign


• Dr. Hammond’s Resiliency Initiatives organization


• Information about Youth Engagement Programs


• Information on Dr. McVey’s work on disordered eating can be found here, here, and here


• Dr. McVey’s The Student Body website on factors which trigger unhealthy dieting


• A short video on the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Experience, and information on the research Stephen Ritchie of Laurentian University has done on it


• Information on adaptive sport from ParaSport Ontario and the Canadian Paralympic Committee

If you have any other helpful resources share them in the comments section!

-Josh

"Can You Feel It?"... In a Student's Words

Hi everyone, today we have a student from the Can You Feel It? program job shadowing here. He wrote this blog entry for us about the progam:

Bonjour, je m’ appelle Sheldon Leroux. Je participe dans le groupe Comment ça « fil »? à l’ école St-Joseph Sudbury. On se rencontre chaque mercredi dans une chambre designée qu’on a décorée nous le groupe. On commence la rencontre avec une activité brise- glace amusante. Les etudiants qui participent au groupe de comment ça « fil »? viennent tous de l’école St-Joseph et les autorités sont des infirmières du Service de santé publique. Après l’activité organizée, on bouffe et sur des occasions spéciales les etudiants aident à cuire. Puis pour finir notre rencontre on fait une lecture de relaxation que occasionellement je fais ou je lis. Moi personnellement, je prèfere l’activité brise- glace car on a beaucoup de plaisir en les faisant et occasionnellement, ils sont difficiles.

Hello my name is Sheldon Leroux. I participate in the group Can You Feel It? at école St-Joseph in Sudbury. We meet every Wednesday in a designated room that our group decorated. We start the meeting with a fun icebreaker activity. The students who participate in the group Can You Feel It? are all from école St-Joseph and it is lead by nurses from the Sudbury & District Health Unit. After the activity, we eat food and on special occasions the student help cook. Well to finish our meeting we have a relaxation activity that sometimes I wrote or read. I personally prefer the icebreaker activity because we have a lot of fun while doing them and they are occasionally difficult.

And in the end...

So that was the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition 10th Annual Forum. We laughed, we cried, and we all learnt a lot. It has been one week since the end of the forum, and I have been doing a lot of reflection on it. I stand by my initial feelings that it was one of the best organized, entertaining, and educational conferences I have had the privilege to attend. I joined the team near the end of the process, so I can’t say this with any certainty, but I am sure there were problems and setbacks along the way; but the school team here at the Sudbury & District Health Unit didn’t let anything stop them from putting on a great conference. They were resilient and they got it done. Congratulations, all your hard work definitely paid off!

If you attended, what did you think of the conference? If not, what did you think of my blog? Share your thoughts in the comments, any feedback is much appreciated. And check back soon for one last post with important links to some great resources all in one place.

Thanks for reading and have a great long weekend,

-Josh

A Different Way of Thinking

The Thursday night gala began with a social hour which provided an opportunity to meet new people and network. While I was not able to see Dr. Hammond’s talk in the morning, this did give me the opportunity to speak with him about his work at Resiliency Initiatives. He told me how he believes that in order to increase resiliency we need to move away from a one way model of communication to a two way model; a model encouraging collaboration between individuals. He said that in many cases where results are not being seen it might not be because the individual does not want to change, but because they may need a different way to achieve change. For example, this may mean that a teacher with some students who are continually underachieving may need to use a different way of teaching in order to see results from them.

Dr. Hammond stressed that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we work; away from an authoritarian standard and towards a collaborative one, changing the context of the relationships we have with those we are trying to help. I must say that I agree with him on this issue; in the Science Communication program I learnt about a similar paradigm shift. This was a movement away from a deficit model, in which the public is seen as lacking in knowledge and the scientists merely tell them what they need to know, and towards a two-way communication model between scientists and the public being encouraged. This has lead to more understanding and a better relationship between the two groups. I see no reason why similar results would not be seen in the case of resiliency building as well; the person who is being helped could have important information to share.

What do you think about this paradigm shift? Have you seen it already start to happen? Share your thoughts in the comments!

-Josh

The Gala

I am sure that Thursday night’s gala was a highlight of the forum for everyone; it certainly was for me. There was great food and great company, entertainment provided by a very talented group of youth, and an extremely powerful and moving talk by Joseph Boyden. Even Dr. Arlene King, the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, said a few words and congratulated the organizing committee on the wonderful job they did in bringing all of this together.

Supper began with young performers Alessandro Costantini and Janie Pinard serenading us with a song from Cabaret. Throughout the night they returned and entertained us many more times with a variety of music, they sang everything from Shrek to Poison. Although this may seem like a random selection of songs, they were all chosen specifically to be in line with the theme of resiliency. Last year Alessandro formed Y.E.S. (Youth Entertaining Sudbury), a group of youth dedicated to entertaining Sudbury through theatre. In August 2010 they performed their first show, Hair, at the Sudbury Theatre Centre; I saw this show and it was amazing! This summer they will be performing Rent; the cast came on stage near the end of supper to sing a medley of songs from the show (to a standing ovation), and if you are near Sudbury in August I definitely recommend getting a ticket to the play.

After supper Joseph Boyden took the stage, and said how jealous his wife would be when he told her about the Glee-like talent of these performers. Joseph is originally from Ontario and spent many years teaching in Moosonee, a place he considers his second home, but now lives in New Orleans. Joseph told us a number of deeply personal and moving stories about his life and the struggles that he and his friends have faced. I fear that to retell them myself would not do them justice or come close to capturing the emotion felt by everyone in the room that night; but for an idea of the power of his talk listen to the true story The First Time I Died in his own words. Joseph’s talk left not a single dry eye in the room, but ended leaving everyone with a sense of hope for the future.

The night ended with the return of the cast of Rent. This time they performed songs from their past, singing music from Hair. By the end they had the whole room standing, clapping, and singing along. Some people were even seen dancing around the room. The room was buzzing, and it was clear that everyone had a great time. Over the past year I have attended a number of conferences, and a number of conference dinners, and can safely say that this was the most interesting, engaging and fun of them all! I want to know what you thought, share your favourite parts of the gala in the comments section!

-Josh

Youth Engagement: A How-To Guide

The conference ended with one final session on Friday afternoon. I chose to attend the session on the Ontario Public Health Association Youth Engagement Project, led by Jennifer Lodge of the Ontario Public Health Association. This session also featured two colleagues of mine at the Sudbury & District Health Unit: Gisele Bourgoin and Nathalie Thistle, Public Health Nurses with the school health promotion program. Gisele and Nathalie lead a youth engagement project at a local elementary school for a group of students from grades four to eight. Also presenting at this session were two students from the group who came to share what they do in this after school program.

Jennifer introduced the concept of the Youth Engagement Project to us and explained how it is a community based empowerment approach to building resiliency in youth. After giving us a bit of background on the history of the Youth Engagement Project, where the funding came from, and which other health units also hosted pilot projects, Jennifer turned it over to Gisele and Nathalie. The two of them told us specifically about the development of the Sudbury program. The Sudbury & District Health Unit has a group of Youth Program Advisors (some of which were seen around the forum, starring in the Can You Feel It? video, working at the campaign booth, and entertaining us during Thursday night’s dinner) who they turned to for advice. It was decided that it would be best for any youth engagement project to have a room of its own in the schools, a place that was not associated with class. Surveys done by the Sudbury & District Health Unit with local youth showed stress was a primary health issue for youth; therefore it was decided that any program they developed should have a focus on stress management.

Nathalie and Gisele also led us in an icebreaker activity; one of the students stood in the middle of the room and we all stood in a circle around him. We were each given a ball to throw at him, and when we did we shouted out a pressure facing him. One lucky volunteer was given the role of his mother and it was her job to try and protect him from all of our projectiles; it was a tough task. Afterwards we repeated this activity, but with two more volunteers representing a teacher and a coach who also helped to protect the student. They were given a short time to come up with a plan, and as the coach pointed out it was actually the student who spoke up first to offer a solution to their network of support. An important lesson, listen to what youth have to say, they might just know what kind of help they need! This time around it was much more difficult for the stressors we were throwing to hit the student, the support network was effective.

Next, the two students told us about the creation of the program room at their school as well as what they do each week. They told us about how the room is a space where no one is judged and all are treated as equals and with respect. They developed their own ways to cope with stress, and end each gathering with a relaxation method. Other activities happen as well, like cooking classes and celebrations of all kinds. The students also told us of how they are ambassadors in their school and have done activities such as performing a skit to teach other students about stress management. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of going into their school and joining the Youth Engagement Group for an afternoon; the kids were all having a fun time, and can make a great three-bean salad!

From what I have seen, programs like this can make a very large difference in the lives of students; they help to create a support network to enhance resiliency skills, improve social skills, and provide a sense of belonging. Schools need more programs like this! Important things mentioned to keep in mind when developing these kinds of programs are that food and celebrations are important, students like to move quickly through projects to see results, there should be a space separate from classrooms for the program, school and agency support is most definitely needed, and it is very important to be flexible.

For more information about Youth Engagement Programs visit http://www.youthengagement.ca/

-Josh

Get Out and Play!

The final keynote speaker of the conference was Steve Daniel. Steve was injured in 2005 while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was performing a parachuting training exercise when he landed awkwardly, bursting his T-11 vertebrae and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. This accident forced him to retire, but also led him to the world of adaptive sport. In 2008 Steve competed in the Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing in arms-only rowing. On a more local level, Steve is now also a coach of the Sudbury Rolling Thunder Wheelchair basketball team. He did not give up after his accident; instead he did not let life get him down and persevered.

Steve began his talk by telling us how he joined the Canadian Armed Forces seeking adventure, and soon found it on tours of duty in Croatia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. He took pride in his work, and to have his career end at a young age was a tragedy. But he told us he quickly found that sport was one of his new callings and became active in the world of adaptive basketball and rowing. Along his journey, Steve discovered the lack of opportunities for many people with disabilities who want to engage in adaptive sports. There are many barriers which can prevent children and adults who have disabilities from participating in sport; equipment is expensive and can be hard to come by, and playgrounds with adaptive equipment tend to be few and far between. There is also a lack of awareness amongst many people of the availability of adaptive sports in general.

Luckily, things are changing and there are ways for all of us to help. More adaptive equipment is becoming available all the time in playgrounds across the country. Different organizations and councils exist to help bring adaptive equipment to those who need it, and to help with the cost of the equipment. And awareness can be raised by all of us by acknowledging the immense talent of these athletes and their incredible drive to succeed. Organizations such as ParaSport Ontario can even arrange to have athlete and coach ambassadors to share their story and demonstrate paralympic sports in schools, community centres, and many other environments. This is an amazing opportunity for educators to help raise awareness of adaptive sports amongst students, as well as promote physical activity.

Steve’s talk was very inspirational. Since his accident he has gone on to earn a Business Administration Diploma from Cambrian College, has just completed a degree in Physical and Health Education at Laurentian University, and will be starting medical school in the fall. With hard work and perseverance, even in the toughest situations, anything is possible.

For more information on adaptive sport visit ParaSport Ontario and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.


-Josh

Is Survivorman Resilient?

Friday was a beautiful day here in Sudbury, it felt like it could have been the middle of summer, and this put me in the right mood for the session I attended that morning. Stephen Ritchie, of Laurentian University, and Lawrence Enosse, of the Waasa Naabin Community Youth Services Centre, spoke about the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Experience (OALE) program they developed for the youth of the Wikwemilkong Unceded Indian Reserve. Stephen Ritchie set out with the goal of developing this program as part of his research; he wanted to see what impact the OALE would have on aboriginal youth resilience and well-being. Lawrence Enosse is a leader in the Wikwemilkong community and runs the OALE each summer.

The OALE is a ten day experience. The group begins their trek where the French River and Highway 69 meet. From here they set out on their journey home, canoeing down the French River to Georgian Bay and eventually returning to Wikwemilkong on Manitoulin Island. When the group arrives home a large number of community members, including family and friends, are waiting on the shore to welcome them back. To me, this seems like a wonderful experience for these youth, and quite possibly life changing. During the session, we watched a well crafted film about the OALE and its impact on the youth who participate. To get a better idea of what the OALE entails watch the movie.

This ten day experience was found to have an impact on the resiliency of the youth, at least in the short term. Before the experience and a few weeks afterwards pre and post tests of resiliency were administered to the youth. From these it was determined there was a statistically significant increase in the mean level of resiliency amongst the youth. Stephen Ritchie also noted that he believes the longer time frame of the experience, ten days, could make it more effective than a shorter experience would be. Many of the youth experienced a “day three phenomenon” where their attitude towards the experience suddenly changed. Although they had all voluntarily signed up for the OALE, many of the youth did not want to be there. However, after the third day, they enjoyed it much more and became excited about the experience.

The OALE helps youth learn to not only rely on others, but to also be able to rely on themselves. Both of these abilities are necessary for the development of resiliency. This was an amazing session to listen to, and I believe time will show that the OALE has a very strong impact on the youth who partake in it. For more information on Stephen Ritchie’s research visit http://www.ihrdp.ca/reports.html

And from what I’m told, Survivorman is very resilient... it appears this resilience is probably partly due to his adventures in the wild.

-Josh

"A Vaccine of Resilience"

After Thursday’s exciting gala (don’t worry, I’m not skipping it, this post is still to come) Friday began with a very interesting talk by Dr. Gail McVey, a psychologist and researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Director of the Ontario Community Outreach Program for Eating Disorders. Dr. McVey spoke about her research in the area of eating disorders in youth, and specifically her research on adult influencers. She emphasized that the issue of weight-related disorders is highly complex and requires complex treatment; instead of treating the problem when it arises it would be best to prevent it from happening in the first place. This prevention work, a “vaccine of resilience”, must happen before or during early adolescence.

In my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of Dr. McVey’s talk was the research she has done into the Girl Talk program. Girl Talk peer support groups are led by Public health nurses. The nurses work with younger girls, prior to the usual time that problems may arise. The hope is that the girls in the group can then become student leaders in the school population. Working in a group also helped to provide the girls with a sense of connectedness and belonging, which in turn leads to increased resiliency. A very interesting video on the Girl Talk program was shown; it featured interviews with many student participants and it was clear that the girls really felt that the program was helpful.

Dr. McVey also found that mental health plays a large role in disordered eating. Not only can mental health promotion be an important factor in childhood obesity prevention, but girls as young as grade six say that they benefit from stress management activities. People sitting around me commented that these findings bode well for the Sudbury & District Health Unit’s recently launched Can You Feel It? campaign!

Dr. McVey has made much of her research available online for those interested to read further. If you want more information check out these websites:

· http://www.ocoped.ca
· http://www.obesityandeatingdisordersymposium.ca
· http://www.chsrgevents.ca

Dr. McVey and her team have also developed a website for teachers and others working with students to learn tips to help deal with issues such as weight related teasing. It can be found at http://research.aboutkidshealth.ca/thestudentbody/home.asp

-Josh

More to Come!

I hope you are enjoying reading this blog so far. The forum may be over, but there is still plenty of blogging to do. Coming up are more posts about sessions I attended, the remaining keynote speakers, and Thurday night's amazing gala. Check back later this week for all this and more! If you have any comments or feedback about the blog so far let me know in the comments below.

-Josh

Building Youth Resilience

Thursday afternoon I attended the “Building Youth Resilience: Ingredients for Success” session given by Janet Leadbeater of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit. At this session Janet spoke about a program her Health Unit had piloted with the goal of increasing youth knowledge and practice of resiliency. The program targeted youth aged fifteen to seventeen. Resiliency was defined at one point in this session as “the ability to manage or adapt to life’s challenges and move forward with hope and optimism.” It was noted that moving forward is an important part and yet is not included in all definitions of resiliency. Interestingly, the morning's keynote speaker, Dr. Hammond, and his Resiliency Initiatives group were involved in evaluation of this program, and the Resiliency Initiatives framework was an important part of this.

This program was different in that there was no set curriculum for it. The PHNs delivering it were flexible with what they did and let the youth be a part of the process. They took the time to listen to the youth’s stories and suggestions. Although this opening up the program to be so flexible was difficult at first, Janet spoke of how they found that it led to the youth being more engaged with the program, even those they thought may be disruptive. The youth groups talked about a wide variety of topics, ranging from knowledge and skill development to dealing with change, stress, and pressure. After discussing these topics, the youth eventually created their own marketing campaign to promote what they had learned. Four very creative and well designed posters were made by the youth, as well as a video about how to deal with the stresses of transitioning from grade eight to grade nine.

Janet spoke about how from this experience some surprising things were learnt. The youth do not see their community as a strength for them, they do not feel the support of the community. However, Janet emphasized that it is up to the community to make a change, not the youth. She also mentioned that the youth struggled when asked to write about their own strengths; it was easy for them to talk about their weaknesses but not very easy to identify strengths. I believe this is something that must be addressed; we must help youth to be able to identify what they are good at. Constructive criticism is helpful to improve on weaknesses, but there must also be some praise to encourage youth and help provide them with a sense of self-worth. Thank you Janet for an insightful and engaging presentation!

-Josh

"You Can Do It!"

Thursday afternoon Waneek Horn-Miller spoke to the conference attendees about her life and her thoughts on resiliency. She says that over the course of your life you gain different ways to be resilient and when you face adversity you can then pull techniques from this toolbox, or quiver of arrows. It was clear from Waneek’s stories that she feels family is an important source of learning resiliency skills; she said that her mother showed her how to be strong and her sisters showed her how to make her own path. It became very clear that the lessons learned from her mother have played a large role in helping her to become the strong person she is today.

Waneek told stories of her mother’s activism, such as the time she released live rats in Jean Chrétien’s office, who at the time was Minister of Indian Affairs, in an attempt to have a landfill location changed. Needless to say, the dump was moved soon afterwards. Waneek also spoke of how her mother brought her along to Oka in order to show her how strong of a people she comes from. Examples such as these helped to fortify the warrior spirit of the Mohawk people within Waneek, something which has helped her to be more resilient throughout her life.

Her mother also made sure that Waneek was aware of the hardships she would face, but was always encouraging. She taught Waneek that she would have to give her all in order to overcome stereotypes; from a young age she was told “It’s going to be hard, but you were born with everything you need to make it.” Waneek’s mother also did whatever she could to help overcome these challenges, when she introduced Waneek to the world of sport she enrolled her and her sisters into sports without judges so that their “Indian-ness” would not be a problem. When Waneek was young her mother had her watch the Olympic Games, the event captivated her and she set a personal goal to one day compete in them. Instead of being patronizing, her mother gave her validation and told her “You can do it!” Years later, Waneek would go on to become co-captain of Canada’s 2000 Olympic Women’s Water Polo Team.

What stood out the most for me about Waneek’s story was the powerful effect one’s family can have. In many cases like Waneek’s this is for the good, but unfortunately it is not always this way. However, others can also have a strong influence in contributing to the resiliency toolbox of children. I believe that as educators and role models, people working with children in schools have a duty to help develop this toolbox. By providing encouragement and validation to children, and by setting a strong example, we can help them to learn not just what they need to know for the test but also skills they will use when facing adversity throughout life. What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments.

Update on the Blog

Hi everyone! The conference has just ended and was a great success. Unfortunately, some bad luck struck the blog yesterday afternoon when the Blogger server went down. You were all still able to read my old posts, but I could not sign on to put up anything new. Blogger.com is now up and running again, just as the weekend arrives. This means the next blog post won't be until Monday, but I will have tons to share with you then! I hope everyone who attended had a good time and travels safely back home. Check back here next week for updates on sessions I attended, thoughts on the keynote speakers, an overview of the gala night, and more! And don't forget to share your own thoughts on what you saw over the last two days in the comments area below.

-Josh

Never Give Up

After the launch of the Can You Feel It? campaign I snuck out of the opening ceremonies of the conference. This morning two of the keynote speakers went out to local schools to talk to the students. Waneek Horn-Miller went to Lansdown Public School, and Joseph Boyden travelled to Lively High School to speak to a group of students there, and I was lucky enough to join him.

Joseph spoke to a large crowd of students in the school gym, not only from Lively High but also from two other local high schools. The entire gymnasium was captivated by his talk, which started out lighthearted before turning to more serious issues. Joseph began by performing "Female Moose in Estrus" for the crowd, his best moose cow impersonation, and then challenged the students to outperform him, putting $20 on the line. No one took him up on this offer, despite some students being very confident in one of their peer's moose calling abilities.

After winning the crowd over, Joseph began to tell the story of writing Three Day Road. He spoke of how his inspiration for these characters was the great-grandfather of friends he had when growing up on Georgian Bay. This man was a hunter and trapper who became a sniper in World War I, and eventually was the most highly decorated First Nations solider in Canada. Joseph also gave us a brief overview of parts of the history of Canada that we do not nearly as much about as we should: the residential schools. He told the students what residential schools were like, and of the horrible conditions that native students went through in them. I know that for myself this talk opened my eyes to issues that I admittedly knew far too little about before.
Despite talking about such heavy issues, I did not feel as though I was being lectured too. Joseph repeatedly told us that he was not trying to berate but felt that it was his job as an author to try to bridge the divide between cultures in Canada.

He also inspired the audience to never give up and keep pursuing their goals. He talked of his struggles in becoming an author and how there were many let downs before his dreams came true. He talked of times in his life where he was depressed, and mentioned some of the personal demons he battled, but eventually things turned around. I know that this inspired me to keep pushing forward towards my own personal goals, and I am sure that many others felt the same way.

At the end of the talk a brave student accepted Joseph's moose call challenge... and won! To wrap up the presentation Joseph reminded the students that you must always be willing to make a fool of yourself as a public speaker, pulled out his jaw harp (an instrument we have in common, and the only other person I've met who owns one), and played a tune.

This weekend, when it will be time for me to take a break from writing, I will be able to finish reading Three Day Road, and I cannot wait to read Through Black Spruce. For fans of Joseph's work, he tells me that these are the first two books of a trilogy and the third will hopefully be completed next year sometime. Joseph, in case you're reading this, thanks again for the inspiring talk, and one day I will be able to play the jaw harp as well as you!

-Josh

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

The Can You Feel It? stress workshop and resource guide was launched this morning at the forum. It was developed by the Sudbury & District Health Unit because of a large number of local high school students identifying stress as their top health priority in a survey conducted by the Health Unit’s School Team. I was in high school back when this survey was done, and while there is no way of knowing for sure if I took part in this one specifically, I do remember writing stress down on some sort of health survey in a classroom many years ago...

High school doesn’t seem that long ago, but I am a completely different person when it comes to dealing with stress now than I was then. The second year of my undergrad was one of the most stressful periods of my life. It was sink or swim and I had to learn how to cope or find a new direction. I made it through, and my successes and failures in that year helped me to become the person I am today. I have always been an independent person, but beginning in that year I truly learnt that some things cannot be done on my own and there is no shame in seeking help.

Methods of dealing with stress and hardship are difficult to learn on your own. The Can You Feel It? video, workshop, and resource guide helps teens to gain these skills. It will help them to learn that stress is not permanent, it comes and goes, and they can control their reaction to it. By gaining these skills at this time teens will not only be better able to deal with their current stresses, but will also be more prepared for all that comes afterwards.

The Can You Feel It? resources are available not only to schools in the Sudbury area, but also for other health units to use and share. As I have learnt in my life, independence is good but sometimes it is best to work with others. To learn more about the campaign visit the Sudbury & District Health Unit website or click here to view the trailer for the Can You Feel It? video. Tell me what you think about the campaign, or about any programs you know of to share, in the comments below.

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don’t have to go it alone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
-From “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” by U2

-Josh

I Get Knocked Down...

Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about what resiliency means. The Oxford English Dictionary describes a resilient person as being “able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions”, someone who can bounce back from hardship or failure, who can rebound from a setbacks. The meaning of the word seems clear from this sentence, but to truly understand something you need to look at more than just the dictionary definition.

I am a movie buff and so often the first examples I think of are from film. Probably one of the most resilient characters to ever be on screen is Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). When I first saw this movie I hated it. It was well acted, had a wonderful script, great direction, told an awe inspiring true story, and yet I was angry walking out of the theatre. I felt this way because Gardner is in a horrible situation the entire film; he is trying to make a living in the world for himself and his son and nothing goes his way. He never gives up, but no matter how hard he tries everything goes wrong. He struggles with homelessness for an extended period and yet does not give up on his dream of making a good life for his son. This is resiliency. I was angry walking out of the theatre because I saw it at Christmas, a happy time, and yet the movie made me incredibly sad. Despite the fact that Gardner’s work eventually paid off, I was not resilient enough to even enjoy the film; I had been knocked down one too many times along with Gardner over the course of two hours and couldn’t wouldn’t get up again with him. Five years of experience later I believe I am now a more resilient person. Despite setbacks I may face, I, like Gardner, keep soldiering on in working towards my goals in life. I recently watched this movie again, and enjoyed it much more the second time around. I highly recommend watching it to gain a greater appreciation of exactly what resiliency is.

Have any examples of resiliency to share? From movies, people you know, or your own life? Leave them in the comments below.

-Josh

The Speakers, Part 2

Here is a quick look at the keynote speakers for Friday.

Friday morning features Dr. Gail McVey, a Psychologist and Health Systems Research Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. McVey's work focuses on eating disorders and obesity amongst children and youth. To learn more about factors which lead to unhealthy dieting among children, and what can be done to prevent this from happening, visit The Student Body website developed by Dr. McVey and her team. It is a great site; well designed, easy to use, and contains a wealth of knowledge.

The final keynote speaker of the conference will be Sergeant (Ret'd) Steve Daniel, a Sudburian who served with the Canadian Forces for many years. In 2005 Sgt Daniel's life changed forever when he landed wrong while free-fall parachuting and fractured his T-11 vertebrae. This tragic incident left him paralyzed from the waist down. However, every cloud has a silver lining and he has since become a star in the world of adaptive sports. Read more about Sgt Daniel's experience competing in adaptive rowing at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing here.

And those are just the keynote speakers! There are also many interesting speakers planned for the smaller sessions happening Thursday and Friday; the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition 10th Annual Forum will prove to be an exciting and intriguing two days.

If you have any questions for the keynote speakers leave them in the comments. I will get the chance to speak with at least a few of them over the course of the week and will hopefully be able to get some answers for you.

-Josh

The Speakers, Part 1

The week of the conference is here and in a few short days things will be in full swing. Schedules are being finalized, set up is starting, and media packages are being assembled right next to me. These media packages talk not just about the theme of the conference, but also about the great keynote speakers lined up for the end of the week; for many people these speakers will be one of the highlights of the two days.

Thursday morning Dr. Wayne Hammond will be speaking. Dr. Hammond is the President of Resiliency for Life and has a large amount of experience working with high-risk youth. you can watch some videos about the work being done by Resiliency Initiatives here.

In the afternoon Waneek Horn-Miller will be talking. She was a member of the 2000 Olympic Women's Water Polo Team and has done sports commentary for CBC and APTN, amongst many other achievements. Here is a short interview with Horn-Miller from a few years ago.

Joseph Boyden wraps up Thursday with his talk at the gala. Boyden is the Giller Prize winning author of Through Black Spruce. I am currently reading his first novel, Three Day Road, and I can’t put it down. Don’t have time to read a novel before Thursday but want a sample of Boyden’s writing? Read this article he wrote last year for MoneySense on what success means to him.

Check back tomorrow for information on Friday’s keynote speakers, and if you have any questions for the speakers leave them in the comments! Over the week I will get a chance to meet some of the speakers and will do my best to get you some answers.

Happy Monday,

-Josh

"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please"

Welcome! My name is Josh Osika and I am a student in the Science Communication program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Right now I am in week two of my placement on the School Team at the Sudbury & District Health Unit where everyone is busy preparing for the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition 10th Annual Forum, being held here in Sudbury next week.

The theme for this year is "Resiliency and the School Community". In the two weeks I have been at the health unit so far I have heard a lot about their work to build resiliency and help students to deal with stress. But I also have first hand experience. I am a student, have definitely experienced stress, and it was not that long ago that I was in high school. I was a member of the peer mediation team at my high school and this experience showed me how quickly some people can bounce back and helped me to begin to understand how this skill is developed. I also come from a science background; meaning that I can look at stats and reports and think critically about them. All of this means that I will have a unique outlook on this conference since I am somewhere between a resilient student and young professional.

The title of this post is a quote attributed to Mark Twain, I don't claim to be nearly as skilled at writing, nor will I distort anything (too much). But I will be blogging about the sessions I attend and trying to present what I learn through the lens of my own experience. I'll also have the chance to talk one on one with some of the presenters and will share some of these conversations with you. Hopefully I cover some sessions you are not able to attend so that you can still benefit from them. This blog will also help you to share the conference experience with colleagues who cannot attend. I look forward to meeting many of you over the course of these two days; travel safe and I'll see you soon!

-Josh