An all-day symposium held at the Outlook Civic Centre on Wednesday, November 28 spearheaded the movement to get the community out and about and specifically, getting Outlook ‘in motion’.
Saskatchewan in Motion hosted the event, which was entitled ‘Moving Together: Building a Physical Literacy Enriched Community’.
Julia Frigault, a Community Action Specialist with Saskatchewan in Motion says the symposium was all about looking at what Outlook currently has to offer from a health/wellness/physical activity standpoint and exploring the potential for bigger opportunities down the road.
Roughly a dozen local leaders from town attended the symposium, coming together with a decent-sized audience to hear about physical literacy, including the benefits of it and how important it is to provide opportunities for it to enrich the lives of kids and youth in the community, with a presentation by Dr. Nick Forsberg from the University of Regina.
As well, Outlook’s community profile was looked at, such as the strong foundation that Outlook already has, including its strengths related to pre-existing physical activity programs, policies, awareness and environments.
From there, the symposium looked at potential “Calls to Action” for Outlook, which can mean opportunities offered by the Partners for Physical Literacy to Outlook as options toward increasing physical literacy in the community.
After the presentations concluded, a workshop-type activity commenced with Outlook’s local leaders in order to help identify practical actions that can be done to get kids moving more and to increase physical literacy.
As a result of these findings from the symposium, Saskatchewan in Motion is currently compiling that information.
The weather that decided not to cooperate that day saw a number of people unable to make the symposium event, and Frigault says there are plans to reschedule another session in order to obtain further views and points to help formulate Outlook’s action plan.
“As a result of the weather on the 28th, some key stakeholders, including teachers and students, weren’t able to join us at the Symposium,” she said. “We’re currently working with Jordy Jones, local coordinator, to set-up follow-up sessions in January to ensure that we include their views. Once that’s done, we’ll finalize Outlook’s action plan.”
To those who may be interested in keeping tabs on Outlook’s Saskatchewan in Motion partnership, you can visit the online portal that has been established to track progress and obtain a wealth of info related to physical literacy and related programs. Visit the portal at saskatchewaninmotion.ca/outlook for more information.
