While most people will spend Easter cozied up at home, a group of students from Central Collegiate will be swishing down the slopes of Banff and Lake Louise on chattering skis.
About 45 students from the high school will travel to Alberta from April 9 to 12, 2020 as part of the school’s annual ski trip for students in grades 9 to 12. The three-day road trip is expected to cost $25,200, with each student required to pay $625.
Other expenses include rooms at the Banff Hotel for $6,800, bus transportation for $5,000, winter activities — alpine skiing, snowboarding, lessons, lift pass and equipment — for $13,000, and bus driver accommodation for $400.
Board trustees with the Prairie South School Division reviewed the application during their December meeting and approved the request.
Jan Radwanski, a trustee for Moose Jaw, noted that the agenda indicates students will return to Moose Jaw on April 12 at 11 p.m. He didn’t think that would be accurate since it was too tight of a timeline that didn’t factor in additional stops or road conditions. He suggested the school should revise the time so parents would know when to get their child and so the bus driver wasn’t so stressed to make it back by that time.
Several learning objectives and learning activities will be accomplished during the trip, according to the application.
A few learning objectives include:
- Respecting nature and developing a stronger spiritual understanding of self, other and the environment, as connected to the Wellness/Physical Education curricula, while enhancing mental health;
- Developing lifelong skills related to fitness, physical activity and skillful movements within alpine skiing and/or snowboarding;
- Developing meaningful and respectful relationships with others during activities within nature;
- Identifying safety measures that need to be in place to ensure safe winter activities;
- Demonstrating proper dress for winter to promote safe winter sports;
- Demonstrating core strength and medium to high levels of fitness while participating in physical activity for a prolonged period of time.
Some of the learning activities include:
- Learning including winter safety skills, trail reading, how to pack and what to pack, assessing risks, and hydration and eating healthy food and drinks;
- Describing the environmental effect of skiing/snowboarding on natural terrain;
- Articulating a historical understanding of the region;
- Inspecting ski/snowboard equipment and proper binding settings;
- Developing strength/fitness levels while gaining respect for their own awareness of personal physical limitations;
- Learning basic orienteering skills and reading maps.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
