As families navigate another stressful school year, skills like resilience, perseverance and managing emotions are necessary to thrive in and out of the classroom. Along with world-class athlete mentors, Classroom Champions brings its unique combination of curriculum and mentorship programs into the classroom to build these invaluable Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills, improve engagement and inspire positive classroom culture, including in Weyburn classrooms.
The Classroom Champions Mentorship+ SEL Foundations program connects students with a dedicated Olympic, Paralympic, or professional athlete as their mentor for an entire school year, to learn from and be inspired by the athlete’s experience and learn skills they need to thrive.
At the same time, the program gives teachers and families the support they need with a suite of digital content and resources that can be used to continue learning beyond the classroom.
Kendra Gonczy teaches Grade 6 at Assiniboia Park Elementary School in Weyburn and has seen the impact of the program first hand. “Students need the tools to help them succeed through life’s challenges, and who better to provide them than the best athletes in the world?”
“Our classroom gained so much from working with our athlete mentor each month. From perseverance to goal setting and teamwork, my students learned life lessons about the athlete mindset and experience that they will carry with them always.”
Classroom Champions is able to provide programming to schools in Weyburn and Estevan thanks to generous partner support from Crescent Point Energy.
“We are proud to invest in the communities where we live and operate,” said Craig Bryksa, President and CEO of Crescent Point Energy.
Since its inception, Crescent Point Energy has committed over $30MM and thousands of employee volunteer hours to community organizations that support education, health, safety and environment, and community infrastructure. “We are excited to continue our long-standing partnership with Classroom Champions to provide mentorship along with social and emotional learning to classrooms in Southeast Saskatchewan.”
“As Classroom Champions embarks on its next decade of programming, it’s organizations like Crescent Point Energy that will give us the mission-critical support to better our offerings to the teachers, students and communities that need social and emotional learning,” said Steve Mesler, Olympic gold medalist and co-founder of Classroom Champions.
“The past year was incredibly difficult for students, teachers and families. If we face another school year of uncertainty, having social and emotional learning resources at your fingertips will be important for mental health and emotional wellness of students and teachers. Crescent Point’s generosity allows us to make sure that happens seamlessly.”
Over the past 10 years, Classroom Champions and its more than 250 Olympians, Paralympians, NCAA, and NHL and NFL athlete mentors have taught SEL skills to more than 5 million students across 35 countries. According to surveys of Classroom Champions’ educators, 99 per cent of teachers report Classroom Champions improved student perseverance and resilience. Ninety four per cent of teachers report improvement in student grades, and 85 per cent have seen increased attendance.
