When the energy and enthusiasm of youth can be harnessed in a positive manner it can hold no bounds.
Canmore Collegiate High School (CCHS) students and staff members took part in a 12-hour stationary bike spin-a-thon Thursday evening (April 24) to raise funds for Bow Valley WildSmart.
Student organizers took it upon themselves to find local community businesses that would sponsor and donate for the event. The spin-a-thon ended up having 150 participants raising close to $2,000 in pledges. A total of 20 teams took part, with four made up of solo participants that cycled 12 hours straight.
Grade 12 student council members Sari Ohsada and Tess Engel organized the 12 Hours of Spin fundraiser and took on the daunting task to coincide with a separate class project.
“By promoting participants in teams to spin-bike continuously for 12 hours in total, we were able to emphasize the importance for the well-being of our environment,” Ohsada said. “As a student-led initiative for Earth Week, our original goal was to just host a fun, last huge school event for our peers to enjoy.
“However, our project became incorporated into the young entrepreneur project (a credited course) as part of our social studies curriculum led by CCHS teacher Alanna Chambers.”
The main principles of the project the students incorporated into the event included: entrepreneurship, business ethics and community engagement.
Bow Valley WildSmart program director Kim Titchener was invited by the students after the event to receive their donation. “It gives me an incredible amount of hope; we have moments throughout the year where you lose a bit of faith because another dog got taken by a cougar or someone did something inappropriate with wildlife, but when something like this happens you know this community is growing in interest in wanting to live with wildlife,” Titchener said.
“If the next generation is already there, already caring about charities, already caring about changing this environment, then we have a real chance of involvement there.”
