First- ever Northside Boys Conference held at Galbraith Elementary School
LETHBRIDGE – More than 100 Grade 5 boys from schools in north Lethbridge took part in the first- ever Boys Conference at Galbraith Elementary on Friday (April 7).
The conference included Trevor Stuart, who in 2016, climbed to the top of the north face of Mount Everest. There were also two “breakout” sessions where kids could meet students from other schools, learn team-building activities and meet some of the teachers at Wilson Middle School.
Principal Sandy Scheldrup says they decided to organize the event for the boys this year after a survey called “Tell Them For Me” was completed last year, by the grade 4 boys.
“Through the data that we pulled from that, we found that the grade 4 boys, who are now our grade 5 boys, were feeling a little anxious about moving into middle school, and what it really meant to become a healthy young man.”
She says they felt they needed “bravado,” or a sense of “bigger being” in order to be important.
Scheldrup and others from the school then approached Stuart to be the event’s first key-note speaker.
“It was a team decision,” she explains. “We wanted somebody that was inspiring, that held a common philosophy of never giving up, of persevering. We’re so fortunate to have Trevor as a local community member, and his willingness to particpate in this has just been fantastic.”
Stuart has been a local advocate and fundraiser for the YWCA, an organization that helped him train to climb Everest, and an organization he says he wished he’d had access to as a child, growing up in a household where he says domestic abuse, death threats and attempted suicides was constant.
“I’m really excited to talk to them because I have a slide in there (his presentation) that’s on goal setting, and the importance of making a decision to set goals when you’re young, and how that can influence and impact your life as they move forward.”
Wilson Middle School’s Principal Dean Hawkins hopes the conference helps ease the boys concerns and shows a little bit about what will be expected of them come September.
“You have a lot of different options. Your timetable is different, and probably more importantly – the responsibility and respect, because you have a lot of different teachers and you have to take care of your own stuff now.”
Alberta Health Services mental health councillors were also on hand to alleviate any concerns or anxiety and to help them set goals.
Scheldrup says they hope to continue the conference next year as well.
