Heather Latter
Staff, coaches, and volunteers throughout the Rainy River District School Board will be receiving concussion training in compliance with Ministry of Education regulations.
“Throughout the summer, we worked on an online student concussion training,” Director of Education Heather Campbell said at last Tuesday’s school board meeting.
She noted the board has had a concussion procedure in place since 2012, as well as a protocol for parents and coaches.
But now it will be going through an online training session to solidify the information.
“[It’s] just another support to help prevent concussions within our board for our students,” Campbell explained.
“It really emphasizes that there are two stages to return to learn and there are six stages to return to physical activity, and how each of those stages requires at least 24 hours between them.
“So that’s the main focus of the training.
Campbell added the training also will provide links to the board’s forms, such as “Tool to Identify a Suspected Concussion,” “Documentation of Medical Examination,” and “Return to Learn/Return to Physical Activity Plan.”
These must be completed and provided to the school administrator before the student resumes participation in curricular, intramural/club activities, playground activities, and team sports.
The training also will provide a link to Ophea—a not-for-profit organization that champions healthy, active living in schools and communities—for guidelines and tools to help diagnose a concussion.
Student trustee Jeff Marchuk was pleased to hear about the training.
Having had a concussion himself, he understands the difficulties of recovering from the injury and returning to school afterwards.
“I think it’s great,” Marchuk enthused.
The board also recognized employees who had reached 25 years’ of service at last week’s meeting.
FFHS teacher Gord Witherspoon and Evelyn Fisher, a communications assistant at Crossroads School in Devlin, were on hand to receive a token of appreciation.
FFHS education assistant Karen Pirie and custodian Lori Caul were acknowledged.
Fisher, FFHS teacher Scott Doherty, and Kathleen Pattison (Crossroads educational assistant) also were noted for their retirements.
Also last Tuesday, the board:
•presented its “Recognition of Excellence” to Crossroads School for student leadership;
•heard a presentation on the Purposeful Use of Technology from technology coaches Tanya Kroocmo and Shane Beckett;
•approved the following policies—2.70 (Healthy School Food and Beverage) and 3.46 (Performance Appraisal);
•approved the following policies for stakeholder consultation—1.20 (Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee) and 1.07 (Role of the Board Member);
•rescinded Policy 3.45 (Teacher Performance Appraisal);
•approved $1,750,000 from unrestricted accumulated reserve for the enhancement of school grounds/playgrounds and the purchase of library resources (pending Ministry of Education approval);
•approved the 2014-15 revised estimates for $50,811,425 (pending Ministry of Education approval); and
•agreed to initiate a School Attendance Zone review for Sturgeon Creek and Riverview schools.
