Warriors Team Up for outreach program

This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity stories that highlight Waterloo in the community.

Positive messages from positive role models. This is the key idea around which the Team-Up program, sponsored in part by the Education Credit Union, is based. Team-Up brings Varsity Student-Athletes to schools where they speak to classes or teams about topics such as goal setting, having positive role models and being a team player. With over 52 schools, both elementary and secondary, and over 5,500 individuals participating last year in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, this year’s Team-Up school outreach program looks to reach even more students with their positive message that focuses around the Six Keys to Success.

The Team-Up outreach program involves student athletes from the University of Waterloo visiting a local school and classroom and volunteering their time to deliver positive messages and provide personal stories of accomplishment and perseverance throughout their sporting and academic lives. “Team-Up is a great way to give back to the community. Our varsity athletes and teams receive so much support from all members of the Kitchener-Waterloo area, it's inspiring to be able to share what we've learned as athletes and what their support has done. I just love it,” says Emily Needles, a student athlete.

Jaspreet Gill, one of the student athletes, says “As I enter the final year of my university career, Team-Up has allowed me to reflect on all the ups and downs I have faced as a student-athlete and pass on that valuable knowledge to kids who have their own ambitious goals in mind.”  This unique program offers the opportunity to students, in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary to create meaningful connections and learn valuable lessons. UWaterloo students gain the opportunity to reach out and improve their community, and elementary and secondary students are given the valuable experience and knowledge from the student-athletes at UWaterloo.

According to Katrina Corrado, Sports Marketing Co-op student, “This program allows students to see that playing university sports and attending school is possible, and helps them believe that they can achieve whatever they set their dreams out to be for not only post-secondary education, but life in general.”  Visit the Waterloo Warriors website to book a visit to your school or classroom or for more information on this program please contact Jenny Mackay at (519) 888-4567 ext. 37126.

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Integrity matters - it defines who we are

A message from the Office of Academic Integrity.

Integrity is much more than a word – it is a way of behaving. So what does that really mean? The Office of Academic Integrity (OAI) and Organizational and Human Development (OHD) partnered in 2013 to create a one-of-a kind workshop that explores the traits that sustain integrity and examines an individual’s core values.

Participants complete a number of activities that identify their personal values and reflect on how integrity is incorporated in to how they work, study, and play. People may think that this workshop is for those who may lack integrity – but it is completely the opposite. This session is meant to check in on what is important to you and to see if you are living in line with your own values. Most of us act with integrity every day, but rarely, if ever, stop to think about it.

In February 2015, Annette Denny (OHD) and Amanda McKenzie (OAI) will present this session at an international conference on academic integrity in Vancouver. The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI)’s focus for this conference is “Integrity in the Real World” and this conference draws attendees primarily from the United States, but also from around the world such as Australia, Dubai, Nigeria and Egypt. Over 300 educational institutions are a members of the ICAI, and the University of Waterloo has been an active member since 2008.

Increasingly academic integrity offices and organizations are expanding their scope beyond the sole focus on integrity in scholarship. This evolution is a sensible one given that if you have integrity then you’ll likely maintain academic integrity.

Look for future offerings of “Integrity Matters” (OHD 120) in Winter 2015.

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Students arrive for Kinesiology Lab Days

More than 1,300 high school students from across Ontario are participating in the University of Waterloo’s annual Kinesiology Lab Days event that runs on weekdays from December 3 to 12.

Students in grade 11 and 12 from 50 schools will learn about a wide range of topics related to human health and movement in mini-laboratory sessions run by the Department in Kinesiology. Participants will have hands-on opportunities to interact with equipment used in Waterloo’s state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories. 

This year's lab sessions include:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Psyched-Up: Learning and Performing Movement Tasks
• Work Those Muscles
• Neurological Inquiries
• Anatomical Inquiries
• Gait and Balance
• Injury Prevention and Ergonomics

Participating schools from Waterloo Region and Guelph include Sir John A MacDonald Secondary School, Eastwood Collegiate Institute, Grand River Collegiate Institute, Southwood Secondary School, Waterloo Collegiate Institute, Galt Collegiate Institute, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School, Forest Heights Collegiate Institute and Centre Wellington District High School.

Labs start each day at 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. A morning welcome session begins at 10:15 a.m. each day in B.C. Matthews Hall 1016 and 1621. Labs will be held in several rooms in BMH, the Lyle S. Hallman Institute for Health Promotion and the School of Anatomy.

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5 Days of Christmas Re-Gifting; other notes

The latest entry in the "Get Up And Go Healthy Workplace Initiative" is set to begin today. The 5 Days of Christmas Re-Gifting runs from today until Wednesday, December 10.

Each day, teams and individuals can bring their "re-gift" to one of the interesting campus locations hinted at in the Daily Bulletin. The gift and the team's passport will be stamped. Your passport contains the list of the campus locations that will be visited, but it will be up to you to figure out which one to visit on which day based on the clues published daily.

On Wednesday, December 10, participants can bring a new toy for a child to the final destination - the University Club - which will be placed under the Angel Tree and donated to children in need.

Bring your unwrapped toy for the Angel Tree Donation, your stamped “Re-Gift”, as well as your passport to the final destination where hot chocolate and cookies, a Re-Gift Exchange and lots of fun will be enjoyed by all at at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10.

Check this document for further details on how to participate.

Here are today's clues:

• When you need a “life”, they hold the keys
• Tickets from here won’t get you into any events

Friends and colleagues of Marlene Skinner (Dolson) are invited to a retirement open house taking place on Thursday, December 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Marlene has provided 26 years of service within the department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. Best wishes can be received in E5 3001.

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