Do you want to be a part of history? Because that is what this mob is going to be! We’re calling it “the entourage”, and we want you to be a part of it!

If you’ve visited my blog recently you will definitely have seen my posts detailing and updating the progress of the Generation Action Youth Summit and the team’s upcoming presentation to provincial leaders and decision makers. The entourage is one more piece of the puzzle that will fit together to make an amazing presentation from the Youth Summit team come to life!
Read more about the Generation Action Youth Summit

Quick summary: The Youth Summit team is presenting to these leaders and decision makers on behalf of the youth of Saskatchewan. That said, they feel (and Sask. in motion agrees) that the more youth representation we can have in the room, the better!

So…without giving too much away…we need children and youth volunteers (parents, coaches and teachers who can escort volunteers are welcome as well) to come on the evening of April 19^th and join the Generation Action Youth Summit team’s entourage! Are you in?

If you want to be a part of this fun, powerful and historic event contact us and we’ll tell you everything you need to know! I can’t wait to see you there; it’s going to be epic!

To join the entourage, contact us:
Send an e-mail to generationaction@saskinmotion.ca  In your e-mail express your interest in joining the entourage. Also, include your name, how many people you have interested in participating, your current e-mail address and a phone number if possible.
OR
Call us at 1-866-888-3648

Kenji

The Youth Summit Team has identified key messages and asks for the specific audience of leaders and decision makers that will be present at the Provincial Summit. They refined the messages and asks from a huge collection of barriers, benefits and opportunities they identified over the course of our two Generation Action Youth Summit meetings.

You’ll have to wait until after the Inspiring Action Physical Activity Summit to hear more about the key messages of the presentation…cliff hanger…

For now I want to share with you some of the other very important work the Youth Summit team has done to identify barriers, benefits and opportunities for physical activity in Saskatchewan.

The Youth Summit team extensively discussed a physical activity campaign that is designed by youth for youth. They feel that it is really important for youth who feel passionately about physical activity and the benefits of an active lifestyle to speak out and encourage their peers to choose an active lifestyle. The messages of the campaign would be from these Generation Action youth to their youth counterparts. A possible next step for the Generation Action movement would be to produce a television commercial/viral video made for youth by youth! –Awesome idea, hey!

The Generation Action Youth Summit team also feels strongly that more awareness around physical activity opportunities and benefits needs to be raised. They believe in Acting Out, Speaking Out and Getting Out for physical activity! The reality is that people like to know what they are going to get out of something before they do it, so let`s tell them and show them all the amazing things they can gain from choosing an active lifestyle!

The Youth Summit teams feels that communities need to be built to make activity the easy choice. To ensyre that an active lifestyle is the easy choice, community policies also need to support physical activity.

Here are some more highlights of the discussions around barriers, benefits and opportunities for physical activity from the Generation Action Youth Summit:

Physical
Barriers

• Opportunities to be active for University Students i.e. facilities, timing
• Comfort level i.e. new to class or sport, self conscious
• Accessibility to all, variety of activity choice

Benefits

• Health i.e. strength, stamina, cardiovascular health etc.
• Healthy lifestyle i.e. nutrition
• Energy

Opportunities

• Physical and emotional health
• Looking good
•  Body image/confidence

Economics
Barrier

• Cost

Benefit

• Community economy stimulated through sport

Opportunities

• Decreased health care cost (prevention of illness through being active)
• Decrease fuel cost for individuals when they choose active transportation instead
• Community engagement in coaching and supervising activity on a volunteer basis

Social
Barrier

• Political will for commitment to addressing the issue
• Cultural differences, expectations, language barrier
• Knowing how to get involved
• Media influence, quick fixes, unrealistic images

Benefits

• Relationships i.e. friends, mentors
• Life skills/team building
• Bridging cultures
• Looking good/body image/confidence-a “glow” or swagger/positive self esteem

Opportunities

• Inclusive options
• Free recreation
• Mentorship for children and youth
• Building on trends
• Giving back/volunteering/getting involved with your community
• Influence-peers, family, friends

Physical/Built Environment
Barriers

• Access/Proximity i.e. facilities, paths etc

Benefits

• Sense of community-know your neighbours, walk to the corner store
• Reduced congestion/traffic with walkable/active transportation ready communities

Opportunities

• Free recreation possibilities
• Mandatory physical activity
• Recess and activity breaks

Speaking of which; I hope you all had a fantastic Family Day Holiday on the 21^st. At Saskatchewan in motion we decided to add a little something to the mix. We encouraged everyone to make it Family Activity Day!

Living an active lifestyle is only made easier when society embraces what that means. A great way to convince anyone that something is worth doing is by illustrating the benefits. So at Sask in motion we thought to ourselves, let’s reach out to the movement and ask them to share their active photos!

That means you! Anyone who likes to be active, supports physical activity, is interested in finding out more about physical activity, anyone can be a part of the Saskatchewan in motion movement. So whether they are from this year’s Family Activity Day or any day of any year! Post your pics to the Saskatchewan in motion Facebook page and you will be entered to win a $50.00 gift card to SportChek! You have until February 28^th to post your pics!

We would love to see how you get active, with your family or on your own. Remember physical activity means a wide range of activities, not just sports. So post your family raking leaves, riding bikes, swimming at the lake, skiing in the mountains or anything else that gets you up and moving!

What’s your favourite way to get active?

Kenji

At part II of the Generation Action Youth Summit we will be developing our presentation for the Provincial Physical Activity Summit Saskatchewan in motion is hosting in April. Our youth summit team will be building on the work we did at part I of the youth summit. We identified barriers, benefits and opportunities to increase opportunities for physical activity in our province, especially for children and youth.

This time our goal is to determine our messages and exactly what we want to ask decisions makers (educators, community leaders, elected officials, parents etc.) to do to address the inactivity issue.

The Youth Summit team has the opportunity to address many of Saskatchewan’s decision makers at the Provincial Physical Activity Summit and we can’t wait!

Check back later! More to come on part II of the Generation Action Youth Summit . . .

Kenji

The Summit brought together youth from across Saskatchewan who have something to say about physical activity, ranging in age from 16 – 23. The participants applied to be a part of this historic occasion. A group of 9 youth, including Graham and I from the provincial office (we are just young enough to fit our age demographic) made up the delegation.  I have to give a shout out to Nadia who couldn’t be there because she was feeling under the weather.

The group came together at this awesome (kinda creepy haha) place called Cedarlodge. The huge old lodge is built right on the hill at Blackstrap Provincial Park just outside of Saskatoon, SK. The atmosphere was perfect for a group of strangers to come together and form a team in a really short amount of time. We were the only guests at the lodge, with the exception of the permanent residents who run the lodge. The main room overlooked a snow covered lake with at least a two story high ceiling lit by “old school” wagon wheel chandeliers. It’s a perfectly modest place that takes you back a few decades in the best way. No TV’s in our rooms set the stage for us to entertain and get to know one another. We had tons of space including a gym/auditorium for activities and key note addresses, meeting rooms to really accomplish our goals, and a beautiful night to take a hike out onto the lake as a group.

Now that you have a feel for where the summit went down, I’m sure you’re curious what exactly we were all doing there…

In total there were 9 participants, (in no particular order) Katie, Kendra, Nafisa, Kirsten, Paul, Stacey, Brett, Graham, and me. The summit wouldn’t have happened without the awesome in motion staffers, Marnie, Nicole, Cathie, and Julie. Plus we brought in 2 more amazing individuals to round out this team, Don Ratcliffe-Smith and Farley Flex!

On Friday evening once everyone had arrived we all got to know one another a little better with an ice breaker activity. Then we had the pleasure of hearing in motion Manager Cathie Kryzanowski fill us in on the current physical activity situation. We heard a bit about how things were back in the day and the inactivity crisis as it is today.

Our good buddie Farley Flex was up next to get us in gear to really achieve some results at the summit. Farley motivated us to step up and be the leaders we all said we wanted to be when we applied to be part of the summit.  He made sure that we were conscious of the fact that we weren’t at the summit just to represent ourselves; that we had a responsibility to represent the complete spectrum of Saskatchewan youth as well as we could. We had to think inclusively and consider a wide range of economic situations, geographic locations across the province, and be mindful of limitations. Farley spoke about principles of character and leadership, like respect, responsibility, honesty, empathy, fairness, initiative, perseverance, courage, integrity and optimism. Cathie and Farley set the stage for the summit beautifully and pumped us all up for the work that was ahead of us.

After some chill time together discussing how our digs for the night were straight of the movie The Shining (you know, “here’s Johnny!”) and a night hike we all hit the sack to rest up for the big day ahead of us.

The graffiti wall captures what we have heard from youth across SK when they were asked to identify challenges, benefits & opportunities for physical activity.

Looking back I’m not sure how we got through all the work we did Saturday. We had an amazing breakfast! Have I mentioned how ridiculously awesome the food was all weekend? I’m sure it was a huge part of how we were able to accomplish everything we did. By 8:45 we were hard at work identifying challenges, benefits and opportunities for physical activity in our province to add to our graffiti wall. We had a great base of information to work from that the in motion team has gathered from youth across the province at Student Leadership Conferences, the Lieutenant Governors Leadership Forum session and other events. The amount of input from all the participants was fantastic and far exceeded expectations!

All of the amazing work to expand the graffiti wall presented a new challenge to the whole group. Now we had to take all of those challenges, benefits and opportunities and evaluate which ones we could develop realistic solutions for and actions for change around. We essentially prioritized what could realistically be done and what needed to be done first.

With excellent leadership from our facilitators, the participants began to generate solutions and messages directed at 3 specific groups

1)      Youth addressing speaking to Youth

2)      Youth addressing to Provincial Organizations and Community Leaders

3)      Youth addressing  Municipal or Provincial Government (i.e. Mayors, The Premier)

Finally we arrived at the last really ambitious task of the weekend. One of the main goals of the summit was not only to tell the physical activity story of our province from a youth perspective, but to provide actions directed at those three specific audiences from this collective of participants representing the youth of Saskatchewan.

How are we going to do that you ask?…

The participants of the Generation Action Youth Summit will be using a medium of the groups choosing to convey a message about the state of physical activity in our province, and asking for specific actions to improve the situation to those who are in critical positions to impact positive change at a Provincial Physical Activity Summit in April. The final session of the day was aimed at developing a strategy for this presentation.

We`ve got some amazing concepts to work from. No… I can`t tell you about them yet.. you`ll have to check back to see how things are coming together.

If you had the opportunity to speak to your Mayor or even the Premier, what would you ask them to do to address the physical inactivity crisis in our province?

Join the conversation; tell the Generation Action Youth Summit participants what you would like to say in the comments below!

PS Check out the Generation Action by Saskatchewan in motion facebook group to follow the work of the Youth Summit.

Kenji

We are honoured you are interested in joining other Saskatchewan youth leaders, Farley Flex and the in motion team to use your creativity, leadership experience and knowledge to tell a story that will motivate leaders in our province to take action to increase opportunities and choices for Saskatchewan youth to be  active.

 The Generation Action Youth Summit will take place January 14 &15th and February 11 & 12th
between 7:30 pm and 3:30 pm the following day. The first summit weekend everyone will work together to establish and document Saskatchewan’s physical activity story from a youth perspective. In February, we will produce our story in a format the group decides is the best way to speak out for physical activity.

Participation is key to the success of the summit. Please make sure you are able to attend both weekend sessions.

• January 14/15 -  Cedar Lodge in the Blackstrap Provincial Park 
• February 11/12 – Saskatoon – location TBD

Meals, accommodations, and transportation expenses will be covered. Participants under the age of 18 will need to travel with a parent(s) or legal guardian.  Accommodation arrangements have been made in Saskatoon and meal per diems will be provided for accompanying adults. 

The in motion team is planning a diverse summit of fun and exciting action. We are striving to provide the best facilitation, compile the most complete sources of information and provide all the tools and
resources you will need to tackle issues and crank out solutions and actions. We want to ensure you and your summit members have a unique and empowering experience, that you leave with some practical knowledge and renewed passion for changing the landscape for physical activity of youth across the province.

Send us a short video or write us using the questions below to tell us who you are and why you want to a part of the Generation Action Youth Summit.

 What and who motivates you to be active daily?

What stands in your way to being active every day?

What do you think it would take to get all SK youth (16 – 23) to be active? Be honest.

If you want get creative and customize it with music and photos but if you don’t have access to
multimedia tools, please feel free to type out your responses. We love a good read.

Please include your: name, age, mailing address, community, school/university/other, an active e-mail address in your application. Also let us know how many days a week are you active for 60-90 minutes?

a)  0-2
b) 3-4
c) 5-6
d)   7

Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication to making a difference for Saskatchewan youth.  Every day, individuals like you confirm that you are the leaders that our province has been waiting for!

We are excited to receive your application!

Sincerley,
In motion commotion team

If you need more information or need some questions answered prior to submitting your application please email Kenji@saskinmotion.ca.

It really is a happy tuesday because I have the honor of introducing you to Saskatchewan in motion‘s new Youth Ambassador!

I met Nafisa at a presentation Nicole and I did at the  Lieutenant Governor’s leadership forum about a month ago.  After the forum Nafisa got in touch and let us know that she wanted to get involved with the in motion movement. It was an awesome feeling to know that Nicole and I were able to connect with Nafisa, and inspire her to do her part to increase physical activity.

Now enough from me, keep reading to find out more about Nafisa and why being a part of this movement is important to her!

Kenji

Hello,

My name is Nafisa Absher, and I’m in grade 12 at FW Johnson in Regina. I’m very involved in my school and community. I also have a part time job, and I try to volunteer in my community whenever I get a chance.

Being physically active didn’t seem that important to me. However, being on the Lieutenant Governor’s leadership forum changed my whole perspective. On the forum, my fellow participants and I were expected to run, jog, or walk every morning for an hour. At first I wasn’t looking forward to going out at 6:30 AM to go walk, but it wasn’t long before I got used to it. I began enjoying these walks, and I realized how much energy it gave me throughout our very busy days. Now, my mother, my brother and I go for walks after school, and also, my best friend and I go jogging twice a week together.

I wanted to become an ambassador, because now I understand the importance of being physically active. When I found out that only 15% of kids in Saskatchewan are as active as they need to be, I realized that I must do something to change that. So, I want to help raise awareness in my school and community about this issue.

In the end, by being active we’re helping our bodies and minds to be the best that they can be. So take that hour out of your day, and fly a kite, take a hike, or jump in a lake.

Nafisa,
Saskatchewan in motion Youth Ambassador

The whole crew after a great session

On Monday it was time for the Lieutenant Governor’s Leadership Forum again. It’s a great program put on by his Honour Dr. Gordon L. Barnhart and his wife, her Honour Naomi Barnhart. The forum bring together applicants from across the whole province to learn about leadership in all types of situations and in locations across the province.

Saskatchewan in motion (SIM) had the pleasure being asked to deliver a session to the participants again this year. We jumped at the chance to work with a group of young people who have identified themselves as youth leaders; we are all about youth leadership at SIM!

Nicole, one of the great in motion team members and I were stoked as we started to plan what we would do with them. The trouble we had was trying to figuring out how we would cover everything we wanted to in the 1 ½ our session lasted.

The Presentation
Nicole led a snazzy power point that covered what Saskatchewan in motion does, why physical activity is so important, and let group know that Only 15% of the children and youth in the province are active enough! Eshk.. let me tell you this group was not happy with that number, with good reason. 15% means that in a classroom of 25 about 4 of the students would be getting the daily physical activity they need. NOT COOL!

We took this opportunity to fill these young leaders in on our simple plan for how they can begin to make a difference for physical activity!

It works like this:

1)      Act Out! – Cause a positive commotion around physical activity; anything that raises awareness & promotes the importance of physical activity.

2)      Speak Out! – Speak out to those who can have an impact on increasing you and your communities’ physical activity opportunities. You can also speak out online, join the conversation and connect with other people who care about physical activity.

a) Join the Generation Action by Saskatchewan in motion facebook group
b) Follow me on Twitter for new info, great ideas etc.
c) Check out the latest blogs (you are here) on GenerationAction.ca
d) Watch videos on YouTube

 On all of these tools leave comments, ask questions, share your experiences and ask for help. We hope that these tools will be a central place for SK youth to connect about all things physical activity with each other, and the whole in motion movement.

      3)  Get Out! – choosing to live an active lifestyl means    you are an active role model for everyone around you! You`ll positively impact so many aspects of your own life and potentially set an awesome example for someone (a friend, family member etc.) who witnesses your choices to live active.

The forum was an awesome experience again this year. I want to thank everyone who put it together, my presnetation partner Nicole, and of course all the awesome youth who participated.

These simple steps are for everyone  because we are all leaders! Get out there and get active for yourself and those you care about!

Kenji

Rock 'n their new in motion advocacy t's ready to increase physical activity

in motion
This year at the Student Leadership Conference in Meadow Lake Saskatchewan in motion set up a trade show booth and delivered presentations to the young delegates. A team from base camp including, Graham Richardson, Don Radcliff-Smith and me, set out to make sure all of the delegates are aware of the physical inactivity crisis. More specifically we made the trip to talk about what youth can do to increase physical activity.

Team Work
We didn’t attend the conference to tell the youth delegates what to do; instead we wanted to hear from youth what they think we can and should do together. This isn’t the first time we’ve asked youth at SLC this question, but instead of dropping this loaded question without much guidance we added some structure to help come up with creative ideas together!

We didn’t just come with a 3 step structure either, just like it isn’t cool to toss a loaded question out there, we didn’t want to make suggestions without testing them ourselves.  Check out the structure and the ideas we’ve tested out.

 Act Out – From now on Acting Out is a great thing, it doesn’t mean causing trouble, it means getting attention to raise awareness with a purpose! Go for as much attention as you can.

• Try putting on a Flash Mob these events can be big or small and it’s easy to incorporate activity, plus they are a blast to be a part of! Check out our Dance flash mob.
• Plan or get involved with an in motion event- which simply means plan something active, a charity walk/run, coach a team, plan an event at your school.

Speak Out – You have a voice and the opportunity to use it. I know I had something to say when I found out that Only 15% (4/25)of Saskatchewan’s children and youth are getting enough daily physical activity… this fact directly relates to our generation being the first in history expected to have a shorter and less healthy life than our parents… So join the conversation

• Let us know what you think on.. you guessed it the blog! Comment or even submit guest blogs, tell us what you think about the situation, what you think we should do, or why physical activity is important to you etc.
• Join our Facebook group and connect with the movement and other young people who recognize the importance of physical activity
• Follow Saskatchewan in motion and me on twitter for up to the minute info about the movement, resources and tips

 Get Out – Be an active role model. If you think physical activity is important and identify the inactivity crisis is serious problem you can “walk the talk” to show the public. Show people what you love about activity and how easy it can be to gain the benefits by making activity part of your daily routine.

• Be active and bring a buddie – when you’re going to be active bring along a friend who could use a little help incorporate activity into their life.
• Leave the car at home: Choose Active Transportation – Before you jump in the car think about riding your bike or walking to where you are going (I walk to work every day, it’s how I officially wake up and start the day off right).
• Have fun! – Don’t forget how much fun living active is. Physical activity isn’t limited to exercise or sport (a common misconception), going tobogganing, or playing in the water at the lake, going for a hike or kayaking are all physical activity. Try something new too!

I hope our breakdown helps you become more active but also helps you become a more active leader in the physical activity movement.

Tell us what you think.. Do these suggestions help you? What else do you need? And don’t forget to share your success in the comments or on any of our other social media! We can’t wait to hear from you!

Kenji

2010 Student Leadership Conference
Some of you may be wondering what the Student Leadership Conference is all about so let me tell you. It’s about getting together with other leaders to discuss and learn about ways to use your leadership skills to benefit the people around you. Graham Richardson, another in motion team member, will be leading a session to talk about how leaders like you can work to improve the fact that only 15% of Saskatchewan Children and Youth are active enough to stay healthy.

Be the Change You Want to See In the World
Saskatchewan in motion knows that high schools students have an amazing amount of power and ability to change the inactivity trend and get other young people moving. Graham’s session will focus on what Saskatchewan in motion suggests you can do to initiate change yourself, and how to take it a step further and get involved in your community. Don Radcliff Smith, a physical activity consultant, will be leading do a breakout session to hear the participants perspective on how we can improve the 15% stat.

Stop By for a Visit
Meanwhile, Kenji will be hanging out at the tradeshow hoping to see you. The Saskatchewan in motion will tradeshow booth will be a little different this year. Kenji is setting up a video camera to create a speakers corner of sorts. We want to know what you think about three questions. If you’re attending the conference visit Kenji and on your own, or with your friends Speak Out! When Kenji and Graham get back to base camp we will be posting video responses on the Saskatchewan in motion YouTube channel. Even if you’re not attending the Student Leadership Conference (we can’t all be there) we want to hear what you have to say too, so record yourself and post your videos on our youtube channel or leave a comment and let us know what you think. 

So here’s something to think about…

1. Did you know? This generation is the first in history that is expected to have a shorter and less healthy life than their parents.

2. Only 15% of Saskatchewan children and youth get enough daily physical activity to stay healthy.

3. Tell us why physical activity means something to you.

Follow Kenji on twitter to get updates from SLC as it happens, and don’t forget to Speak Out!

Julie