by Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — Grade 8 students at Cobden District Public School were hoping to reach $20,000 on their 10th anniversary of raising money for the humanitarian organization Right to Play.
However, they fell $305 short … coming in at $19,695.
The students host a free-throw fundraiser for Right to Play, teacher Kevin Grady said Wednesday afternoon. In the last nine years, the students have raised $17,895.
“Our goal this year is to break $20,000,” he said. “This is like the final act for Grade 8 students.”
Julia Myer of Right to Play was at Cobden’s school Wednesday afternoon for the event. Right to Play was founded in 2000 and it’s an international humanitarian organization that is in 20 countries around the world, including the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the First Nations communities in Canada, she said.
The main focus of the organization is to train teachers in those communities to run sport and play programming as a tool for education, she explained.
“So literacy, numeracy, it’s all done through games,” she said. “They are learning about peaceful conflict resolutions and safe health practices.
“If they are learning about health issues that are relevant to their community… they can learn to protect themselves against viruses. We also teach communication. We can teach students how to communicate with words, not weapons.”
In Canada, Right to Play works with the schools to teach the young people how to have “a greater understanding about kids half-way around the world and what they are experiencing and how, together, we can make it a better world,” Ms. Myer said.
“It’s incredible how Cobden has rallied behind this cause and it’s now in its 10th year,” she said.
Ms. Myer said 10 years ago Clara Hughes took up the project and donated $10,000 to it. That same year, this school started to fundraise for Right to Play. The students reached their goal of $10,000 and now have the opportunity to reach their second goal.
“This is something Kevin (Mr. Grady) has taught his students,” she said. “When you reach a goal, you set another goal. That lesson is so valuable.”
She’s not sure if the students know, but Ms. Hughes recently donated another $10,000 to Right to Play.
Ms. Myer noted while there are about 300 to 500 schools throughout Canada who participate in the Right to Play and about 100 of them host various fundraisers, Cobden District Public School is the only one that holds a free-throw fundraiser.
“These students are unique,” she said. “They are helping children around the world with their free-throw fundraiser.”
Recently some students attended a Junior Leadership program Right to Play organized and hosted, Ms. Myer said. They learned what students’ right are and how to educate their peers about this program.
The students who participated each received a yellow Right to Play T-shirt from the school board, she said.
“The school board believed in the students’ initiative and wanted them to be recognized for leadership and so they supplied the T-shirts for the students,” she said.
This is Ms. Myer’s seventh trip to Cobden’s school.
“I’ve been to Cobden about six or seven times,” she said. “It’s one of my favourite towns in all of Canada. The people are so kind and thoughtful. It’s nice to see character develop in the students. They are definitely something to be proud of.”
Four other schools in Renfrew County participated in Right to Play — Eganville Public School, Renfrew Collegiate, Highview Public and Champlain Public School.
For more information, check out the website righttoplayschools.ca
Editor’s Note: The total amount raised was not known until Thursday morning, so there was no opportunity to talk with Mr. Grady. However, whitewaternews.ca congratulates the students on raising almost $20,000 — that is remarkable.
