The Calgary Surge is hosting a Be Well game for junior high students

Six-foot-eight-inch Gabe Osabuohein ran down the court, leapt into the air, and dunked the ball into the hoop. As thousands of Calgary students cheered on their Calgary Waves, the buzzers went off and bullets rang out over the top of the backboard.

On May 15, 2024, the first Be Well School Day game was held in partnership between the Calgary Surge and the Calgary Board of Education (CBE). Thousands of seventh and eighth grade students from Calgary schools attended the event at the WinSport Event Center to strengthen CBE's high school program.

Artistic performances complemented the event with a DJ, dance groups and musical acts. The Calgary Foundation secured these acts as the title sponsor for the game and plans to connect artists with the Surge for the season.

“This story is about showing each other. All these young people study in the seventh and eighth grades. This is a difficult period of life. Getting to know yourself, getting to know your community, social-emotional learning, it's all going on, says Ken Lima-Coelho, a volunteer on the Calgary Foundation's board of directors.

This event is designed in line with CBE's Student Wellbeing framework. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown how difficult it is for students to learn when their physical and mental health is at risk. This model has learned from that time and uses it now. It's about prioritizing student well-being and recognizing that a student needs to be in good health in order to learn and succeed.

What is the basis of student welfare?

CBE's definition of well-being goes far beyond physical health and recognizes that many other factors influence a student's happiness. According to the policy, wellness can be divided into eight interdependent categories: physical, social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, financial, intellectual and vocational.

The model is also derived from the holistic lifelong learning system of local education. Created in collaboration with local elders and knowledge keepers, this definition of wellness is based on the health of four basic human qualities: spirit (being), heart (belonging), body (doing) and mind (knowing). All of these elements must be met for a person to be happy with this definition.

CBE defines wellness as a broad multidimensional concept that requires a holistic approach to achieve. CBE's own model also divides their system into four main categories that work together to create a culture of well-being. These are students, staff, schools/workplaces and communities. These different elements are interdependent and treat wellness as a prerequisite for learning. At the same time, they can be further divided to avoid using broad strokes and generalizations.

It depends