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Six high school teams (students and teachers) were recently trained to implement SMARTRISK’s injury prevention initiative for high schools, the No Regrets program. Program implementation is made possible in the six Central Okanagan high schools thanks to the Andrew Scott Walker Memorial Fund. Kelowna raised, Andrew died of an injury while skateboarding, just two days after he turned 21. Andrew’s father attended part of the training and says, “I’m very encouraged in seeing such a great group of students and teachers standing up to take part in this program to make a difference within their schools”.
Participating schools are: George Elliot Secondary, Immaculata High, Kelowna Secondary, Mt. Boucherie Secondary, OKM Secondary, and Rutland Secondary. An optional component of No Regrets is No Regrets Live. Formerly known as SMARTRISK Heroes, it is an internationally acclaimed traveling show hosted by an injury survivor that promotes SMARTRISK’s injury-preventing messages: Buckle Up, Look First, Wear the Gear, Get Trained, Drive Sober. Students at the six schools will see No Regrets Live this spring.
What is SMARTRISK and why is it important to our young people?
More teens die of injury than all other causes of death combined as 70% of teen deaths result from injuries. In addition to the devastation these early deaths leave behind for the victims’ families and friends, injury also has a huge economic cost to all Canadians. A recent SMARTRISK study found that injury costs Canadians more than $19.8 billion each year.
Why is No Regrets being implemented in our schools?
A recent evaluation found that after a single year’s exposure to No Regrets, students reported 17% fewer
injuries requiring medical treatment. The Canadian Institute of Child Health awarded No Regrets its 2008
Health Promotion and Innovation Award of Excellence in recognition of the value of the program.
SMARTRISK’S flagship Heroes show has, in past years, visited our community. With thanks to our local Board
of Education, Superintendent Hugh Gloster, our receptive school Principals and our supportive teachers, we
are excited to announce that the SMARTRISK No Regrets peer leadership program has now been introduced
to the Central Okanagan. The six local teams of youth leaders and their teacher advisers have completed
training to implement injury prevention activities and events at their schools to promote smart risk messages.
These youth-led activities and events target the attitudes and risk-taking behavior of their peers related to
activities such as driving, biking, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and partying.
How can our community support the Andrew Walker Memorial Fund and SMARTRISK?
It’s a fact – our schools cannot afford to maintain these programs financially. Local support is needed if our students are to benefit from SMARTRISK initiatives in schools to help keep them safe. Contributions to the local Fund to maintain injury prevention programs may be made through the Central Okanagan Foundation’s “Andrew Scott Walker Memorial Fund”.
Additionally, SMARTRISK has entered No Regrets in the national Aviva Community Fund Competition, which will award a total of $500,000 to at least three winning ‘ideas’. SMARTRISK’s idea is to bring No Regrets to 250 new high schools in Canada in the near future – tripling its reach among young Canadians in a year. To reach this many schools, SMARTRISK would train local facilitators who in turn would train students and staff advisers in their regions and help to maintain the program locally. The ideas with the most votes are considered by a panel of judges who award a total $500,000 in funding.
The No Regrets idea has now reached the semi-final – You can help by voting.
Your vote is now needed to help SMARTRISK win up to $250,000 in the final judging round. Vote once per day, every day from Dec. 2-16 at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf1059 and encourage your friends and family to do the same. You must register to vote. Thank you for your participation.
For more information about SMARTRISK, or if you need help to vote contact Scott Walker in Kelowna at 250-764-8555, e-mail Scott at scwalker@shaw.ca.
Tags: no regrets, smart risk
