November 6/08 8:51 am - Canadian Olympic School Program Launches with New Resources

Posted by Editoress on 11/6/08
 

Canadian Olympic School Program Launches with New Resources

Now in its 20th year and funded by RBC, the Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) Wednesday announced its fall educational resources, including four new Olympian Stories and three new project packs to inspire students via the Olympic Movement.

One of the Canadian Olympic Committee's most successful initiatives, COSP is designed for students in grades two through 12, and provides teachers with lesson plans, contests and an interactive website. Each uses Olympic stories and issues to relay such values as leadership, excellence, respect and fairness.

"Our teachers find the Canadian Olympic School Program resources to be both high quality and truly engaging for their students," said Karen Grose, a Superintendent with the Toronto District School Board. "The program uses the excitement of the Olympic Games to get our students not only reading about these important values, but talking about them in class. Great discussions emerge."

With the support of RBC, several new resources have been added to the COSP curriculum. Available nationwide are four new Olympian Stories, including speed skater Gaétan Boucher on the value of excellence, skier Thomas Grandi on leadership, figure skating duo Jaime Sale and David Pelletier on respect and fair play, and 2010 Chef de Mission Nathalie Lambert on the impact of the approaching Olympic Winter Games. All are written for three reading levels - grades 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7 - and include learning activities focused on language arts.

Exciting new financial literacy projects have also been built for elementary and secondary school levels. Speed skater Clara Hughes, snowboarder Alexa Loo and figure skater Jeffrey Buttle are the focus of stories and activities designed to teach students how to manage money.

At the secondary school level, a new business/accounting project called "Financing a Dream" has students act as financial advisors to athletes seeking a medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Also new are a series of math projects where students analyze numbers to ensure that Canadian athletes "own the podium" in 2010. In so doing, they learn how math is used in the pursuit of Olympic excellence.

Canadian teachers can also secure an RBC Olympian to appear in class through COSP. For more information, including all bilingual lesson plans, visit www.olympicschool.ca