This morning I attended Fenelon Falls Secondary. Two of my friends, Laura and Sheamus, work at the school and both have backgrounds in outdoor education. The majority of our time was spent outside… Laura and Sheamus had organized 3 activities that spoke to the message the TMO Project is trying to take across the country. There was an activity that involved portaging a canoe! So the students were reminded of the active and physical part of the message. I led an activity that involved hugging a tree… and no, not an activity to transform them all into hippies! It was a sensory activity that reminded students of the importance of our connection with nature. And Laura led the classic initiative “Acid River” – a fun activity that focuses on problem solving. Calling this issue a “problem” might be argued by some… in some circles, the issue of screen time leading to all these health issues is even being called an epidemic. Regardless of what we call it, we need positive role models and messengers to help others find that balance between time in front of screens and time outside. The hope is that some of these students can play that role. So it was a great morning! The students signed a Falcons shirt and wished us luck on our way.

Tomorrow I will start running again and we are Toronto bound! We have a couple of school visits in Ajax and Whitby early next week. And I’m really looking forward to running along the Lakeshore into the heart of Toronto. Years ago, I trained with a club and most of our runs were down on the water. So it will be fun to relive some of those memories!