Classroom Champions – Calgary, AB (February 5, 2016) – Paralympic Snowboarder, Michelle Salt, took time out of her training to make a special appearance at Dr. Gordon Higgins School today. Salt has been mentoring students throughout the school year as part of her involvement with Classroom Champions. During Novembers’ Classroom Champions Community Month, Michelle challenged 4,500 students across the Continent to design her new 2016 World Cup Snowboard. Today Michelle and Classroom Champions unveiled the design and introduced the Calgary artist, a grade 9 student at Dr. Gordon Higgins School.

“I was excited to launch the Snowboard graphic contest in November, Community month for Classroom Champions, and see how classrooms from Surrey, British Columbia to Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, participated with submissions”, stated Michelle. “Being able to extend my relationship to more classrooms, and onto the snowboard hill, through this contest has been such an amazing experience, especially when I get to meet the winning designer, Navjot, today.”

Classroom Champions connects top performing athletes with students in a type of virtual pen pal relationship. Using video lessons and live video chats students are motivated to recognize their potential, set goals and dream big. It’s the first and only in-­school program that brings National Team athletes, Olympians and Paralympians into the classroom to provide ongoing mentorship. As part of the program, participating classrooms are equipped with the latest technology tools -­ tablets, televisions, laptops – to help teachers incorporate digital literacy into their curriculum.

 
“Our Athlete Mentors, like Michelle Salt, volunteer their time to support teachers and students across Canada. When Michelle went above and beyond to engage and empower our students to be involved in something so big, I was floored,” said Classroom Champions President and CEO, Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Mesler. “Having Michelle launch this contest during Community month reinforces the power Classroom Champions has in connecting students, teachers, and Athlete Mentors. We’re excited to see submissions from Surrey, the Alberta communities of Cold Lake, Provost, Wainwright, and Calgary, as well as Weyburn, Saskatchewan and Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia. The all came together to work on a project to support Michelle’s goals, and Navjot’s work won out. I think it’s amazing!”

“I am beyond amazed and proud of all the student submissions for this contest,” said Salt. “Classroom Champions continues to inspire me to work harder and be a better athlete and because of the program I feel that I am accountable to each and everyone of the students as I reach for my goals.

This is Michelle Salt’s second year as mentors with Classroom Champions.

About Classroom Champions

Classroom Champions is a non-­profit program founded by 2010 Olympic gold-­medalist Steve Mesler and Leigh Mesler Parise, PhD. Classroom Champions Canadian programming is run by the Back to School Project Foundation, a registered Canadian charitable organization.

Leveraging the latest technology and donating it to participating schools, Classroom Champions partners with teachers in underserved schools and transform their learning environment to enable students to thrive. The organization provides Olympian and Paralympian Mentors to classrooms of at-­risk students for the course of an entire school year, trains and supports teachers to implement character lessons into the curriculum and engages families to continue the learning at home. Classroom Champions has grown from its U.S. beginnings to reaching thousands of students in schools and classrooms in Canada, the U.S.A., and the Caribbean. Classroom Champions is the only North American organization to be awarded the 2012 World Fair Play Diploma for Promotion of Fair Play by UNESCO’s International Fair Play Committee. For more information on the program, participating Athlete Mentors, and its funding partners, as well as a view of Classroom
Champions at work in the schools, please visit ClassroomChampions.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, please contact:
Michelle Comeau
403.512.7671
mcomeau@classroomchampions.org
Navjot’s Winning