“It’s all about supporting teachers in providing diverse and inclusive H&PE programming.”
~ Mark Verbeek, Health and Physical Education Consultant, HWDSB
Health and Physical Education Consultant, Mark Verbeek, attributes his success to
physical educators who made learning personal. His mission: to
create that opportunity for as many students as possible. “There’s
been an evolution of phys-ed to a more holistic approach that
encompasses the social, emotional, cognitive and physical,” he said.
The past few years, Mark has been working with teachers at his
board to bring physical literacy to more students,
families and communities. He brings educators together to discuss
how they can evolve their programs to get more students active.
“We’re able to share best practices and hear what different
schools are doing,” said Sofia Fox, Head of Girls' Health and Physical Education at
Westmount Secondary School. “We discuss how we're assessing and making
sure we’re addressing the key learnings in our courses.”
Mark said the goal is to help students train for durability and injury prevention.
Developing physical literacy, he added, builds the confidence and
competence to participate in activities even if they stop playing sports.
“What we’re seeing is that students who are not involved in sports
are really finding their connection to fitness, because it’s really about
themselves,” he said.