A gymnasium filled with over 500 children and their teachers fell silent Friday afternoon, as Jeff Adams told his story.
Jeff AdamsThe five-time Paralympian and six-time World Champion was guest speaker at the Raise the Bar Physical Activity Student Leadership Conference at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Barrie.
After surviving cancer in infancy, Adams faced another obstacle when at just nine years old, the radiation treatment that had ultimately saved his life was found to have permanently damaged his spinal cord. He was forced to adapt to a wheelchair, and all of the obstacles that entailed.
"Everything I did needed to be changed or modified," he said. "I had to negotiate what the rules would be. It made me feel like I just wasn't part of the team. I was feeling a little awkward."
Four years after leaving the hospital, Adam's life changed again when he was invited to Variety Village and watched a wheelchair basketball game being played.
The next week, Jeff returned to Variety Village, a community centre in Toronto, with his friend and his brother who were able to use wheelchairs to play alongside disabled athletes.
"For the first time since I came home from the hospital, they had to change the way they played a game to play with me," he told the crowd. "They started to understand.
"When we take a step to understand the things that make us a little bit different . . . amazing things happen."
Adams went on to become the world's fastest wheelchair racer and he uses his triumphs and defeats to motivate audiences to "take a step" to better understand the people around them.
His audience at St. Joan of Arc applauded after a video of two Olympic races - one where Adams lost and one where he won. No matter what the outcome, he said it was important to remain positive.
The passion was obvious as he shared a story of a race that he was leading when his wheel broke and he finished last.
"It went from what I thought was going to be the best day of my life to one of the worst days ever," he said, adding that it was important to keep going and finish the race instead of quitting.
"I was very, very far from happy, but I finished the race and I lived a moment of excellence that day."
Following his inspirational presentation, Adams answered numerous questions about his biggest challenges and choices.
Earlier in the day, Provincial Education Minister Liz Sandals and officials from Simcoe County's public and Catholic school boards welcomed groups of student leaders from about 80 schools to the Raise the Bar Physical Activity Student Leadership Conference.
"It's great to see so many of you here," Sandals said. "We all care about physical activity and you are all going to make it happen."
Raise the Bar was created by Steve Friesen, a physical education teacher in Guelph about 10 years ago. He says the key to success is encouraging students to get involved in designing and running intramural programs.
The program holds two conferences each year and this is the first road trip outside Guelph.
"It came out of my frustration that too many kids were left on the sideline because of the "win-win" mentality at our schools," he said. "If you don't make the team, and a lot of kids don't, you can still be involved when we have strong intramural programs . . . regardless of your skill level."
Students learned new games to implement when they return to school, and they participated in team building activities to inspire leadership skills and confidence.
"We recognize that physical activity is one key component of student wellness," said Ab Falconi, superintendent of education at the Simcoe Muskoka District School Board.
"Kids today don't have as much physical activity at home. They watch TV more, and they play video games more. As a school board, we are doing what we can to build fun activities to get kids moving."
Grade 7 pupils and teachers from St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic School in Barrie are just starting to plan an intramural program and they agreed the conference was helpful.
"It's a great chance for everybody to have fun," said teacher Krystalyn Bell.
"It can help kids to feel like they really belong to their school . . . and its always best if you can have fun."
