This story is featured as part of SUCCEED Stories, through the SUCCEED Framework. SUCCEED (Supporting Communities Empowerment & Development through Sport for All) is a global framework dedicated to fostering community empowerment and development through capacity building in Sport for All. Led by TAFISA in collaboration with the IOC through its Olympism365 strategy, SUCCEED aims to provide a unified and synergistic approach towards building the capacity of Sport for All stakeholders.
Last year, a student at Clover Bar Junior High in Sherwood Park, Alberta could barely get through the school doors. On the rare days they made it in, the school day often ended early. This year, they have missed one week. That week was because they had the flu.
"They're a completely different kid," says Cherum Orr, Principal of Clover Bar Junior High. "It's really life-changing."
The difference? A programme built on a simple but powerful idea: that daily movement belongs at the centre of a young person's school experience - not on the edges of it. Through a Sport for Life programme supported by the SUCCEED Framework, more than 300 students take part in movement-based learning every day, helping improve attendance, confidence, focus, and wellbeing.
What began as a single Grade 7 class has grown into a school-wide programme where students of all abilities learn through movement, from swimming and mountain biking to yoga and curling. Teachers have seen students who once struggled to attend school become eager to walk through the school doors, while families describe newfound confidence and resilience extending far beyond the classroom.
The programme's greatest success isn't any one activity or year-end achievement. It's the cumulative impact of making movement part of every school day, creating an environment where young people feel engaged, supported, and ready to learn.
