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18 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday October 12, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Gladys Speers small but mighty active By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF They may be in a small school nestled in a quiet suburb, but Gladys Speers Public School students were on the world stage last week. On International Walk to School Day (IWALK) on Wednesday, Oct. 3, the entire JK to Grade 6 school of just more than 300 students was doing much more than walking to school. They literally laced up their walking shoes and headed outside into the school yard -- and neighbouring streets -- doing their part to help break a world record. If successful, Gladys Speers won't just be known as the little elementary school on Samway Drive, but will be in the Guinness World Book of Records. The students -- led by teacher and the school's Quality Daily Fitness co-ordinator Mary-Beth Doolittle -- joined a handful of other Oakville schools and others across Ontario, even in other Canadian provinces, in the Ontario World Record Walk 2007. More than 1,400 events were planned, said Doolittle. "We're contributing to this effort," said the teacher, explaining the school attempts to get its students and staff active through a variety of innovative programs. The walk was a combined effort to beat the existing record set by western Australia in 2006 -- where the largest number of people (100,915) walked one kilometre simultaneously. At 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, Gladys Speers' student body began walking a 1.15 km route. An Official Count of participants had to be registered by today (Oct. 12) and, once verified, results of the effort will be posted on the Ontario World Record Walk website. The World Record Walk was organized by Green Communities Canada (www.greencommunitiescanada.org) with support from Ontario's Ministry of Health Promotion (www.mhp.gov.on.ca) Active 2010 initiative. It's part of a movement to start a walkolution in Canada. This word, coined by Green Communities Canada, aims to help address societal issues like obesity and climate change. IWALK Day also aims to encourage students and families to conserve the environment and be active. Participating in initiatives like the world record challenge is not new to Gladys Speers, which boasts an enviable reputation for its efforts to get students active. "Our little school has been working hard to encourage physical activity by offering primary and junior intramurals, cross country and relay teams, as well as daily physical activity for every student from Kindergarten to Grade RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER ON THE MOVE: Gladys Speers Public School students Dimitri Andic and Abigail Crawford join their peers in the Ontario World Record Walk on International Walk to School Day. 6," said Doolittle. "We have been proudly presented with the `Diamond Award' by the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. This is the highest level possible," said Doolittle, noting Gladys Speers has achieved that top honour for two years in a row. The school offers primary and junior intramurals in floor hockey and co-operative games and hosts staffversus-student matches of floor hockey, volleyball, baseball and soccer. For the second year, Gladys Speers is also participating in the McDonald's GoActive Challenge and last year earned the school enough funds for basketball nets, balls and badminton equipment. The challenge sees classes participate in the fitness challenge to improve fitness in crunches, situps, sprints and longer distance runs. When it comes to the dance scene, Doolittle said choreographer Michelle Silagy comes from Toronto to give dance workshops to all students in JK to Grade 6 for nearly three weeks. This is her fifth year participating in collaboration with the Ontario Arts Council. Also, through Green Communities Canada, Gladys Speers is a member of the IWALK program and students walk a 1km block at least once a month. END OF SEASON EVERYTHING 20% - 70 % OFF O V E R S T O C K E D MO D E L S MU S T G O A L L F L O O R MO D E L S MU S T B E S O L D LIQUIDATION Self Cleaning Hot Tubs CASH AND CARRY ONLY 10 AVAILABLE 4 MODELS UNDER $ n 5 perso d n plug a play SELECTION, QUALITY, PRICE CLEARANCE MODELS DON'T PAY FOR ONE YEAR! FINANCE RATES AS LOW AS 6.75% REG $4,995 4,995 $ 6 PERSON HOT TUB 40 JETS 2 PUMPS REG $15,995 2,900 NOW We will beat all competitor's price by $ OVER 100 HOT TUBS TO BE SOLD ½ PRICE 500 SAT. SUN. Oct. 13 Oct. 14 * ONLY $7,995 ONLY 15 AVAILABLE * on similar hot tub models 4 Days Only 10-5 11-4 O/A California Spa WINSTON CHURCHILL BLVD. DUNDAS ROAD HWY. 403 HAMPSHIRE GATE Oakville/South Mississauga Factory Outlet 2528 Bristol Circle (Winston Churchill/Dundas) www.theselfcleaninghottub.com THUR. Oct. 11 FRI. Oct. 12 10­8 10-8 DOVER GATE BRISTOL CIRCLE Q.E.W. (905) 829-4991