THUNDER BAY — Normally when members of the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s hockey team pay a visit to a school, most of the time is spent playing sports with the students in the gym.
That hasn’t been the case lately at Algonquin Avenue Public School, as the players have been interacting with the students in the classroom on several topics in addition to the usual fun and games.
“It’s definitely cool to actually talk more to (students) and get to hear their opinions on things,” Thunderwolves blue-liner and team captain Noah Massie said on Tuesday morning.
“It almost makes you want to think about being a teacher one day when you see what these kids are like. They’re going to grow up and be great people and I love being a part of helping them grow as people.”
On Tuesday, nine members of the team visited primary and junior classrooms as part of anti-bullying prevention week. It was the second of four visits planned at the school.
They read the book The Invisible Boy to the students and took part in several activities to teach the importance of kindness, empathy and respect in creating a safe and supportive school environment.
“We’re really preaching the fact about trying to include everyone and everything,” Massie said. “There’s a lot of diversity in the world and we wanted everyone to feel included.
“On our team, sometimes you get frustrated when people make bad plays and people can get angry at each other, but it all comes back to kindness in the end.
“We’re part of a team and you don’t have to play a sport to be a team. You can be that in a classroom and we’re trying to get that message across.”
Joanna Jewell, who is a multi-needs classroom teacher at Algonquin Avenue, said the students have been excited to have the Thunderwolves at the school.
“A lot of them have gone to the games but some of the students haven’t so this has really allowed them to get to know the players and learn some valuable lessons,” Jewell added.
In addition to Tuesday’s anti-bullying lessons, the Thunderwolves are also going to be working on a cooking and baking session with the school’s special needs and multi-needs classrooms.
“These lessons have really been about promoting inclusive education and we really appreciated this partnership with the team,” Jewell said.
“The kids really understand the value of cooperation and they are always learning that it’s important to be kind to everyone.”