PRINCE ALBERT — The Prince Albert Catholic School Division has seen an increase in the number of students playing sports and accessing cultural activities, and administration says that’s partially due to the Dream Broker program that began in 2012.
Dream Brokers work in inner city schools in Saskatchewan to help children and youth become involved in existing sport, culture and recreation programs. Education Director Lorel Trumier said they were pleased with how the program has developed.
“It really is to support children and youth to become involved in sport, culture and recreation,” she said. “Now there are more opportunities with culture and recreation, and maybe it was always there, but we are certainly getting a better sense of some of the opportunities that children could be involved in.”
The program began at St. John Community School in 2012 and then extended to St. Catherine when the board approved space for the Dream Broker to work with families.
“We are always looking for sustainability,” Trumier said. “The good news in the conversation is that there is a commitment for Dream Broker to still exist in our St. John Community School, that serves both St. John and St. Catherine School, so we are happy about that.
“We know that it serves our children well and we want to continue to be a part of it,” she added.
The Dream Broker mission is to initiate and sustain youth participation in arts, sports, and cultural recreation activities. Trumier said it’s much needed initiative that’s working well for students.
“It connects them to community supports in that way and of course it is connected to mental health and well-being, absolutely,” she said. “The outcomes of that kind of work are very important. They have people right in the schools that help identify areas of interest for students and help them pursue those.”
School division reports show that inner city youths are less likely to be physically active and participate in sports or recreational activities outside of school compared to their peers. Dream Brokers help identify areas of interest and the ability to purse sustained participation in the sport of the family’s choice.
Their vision is to contribute to children and youth becoming healthy, active and successful members of their community. Trumier said that they were happy to have the Dream Broker program.
“We have had it in our schools since 2012 so it's really a good initiative and it's highly linked to Sask Sport and community based organizations and facilitators and that kind of thing. It will include charities such as KidSport, Northern Community School Rec Coordinator Program, Jump Start, all of those kinds of programs are supported under the same umbrella,” Trumier said.
