École Grande-Digue, New Brunswick

This past summer, Rheal Hebert, a Physical Education teacher at École Grande-Digue in New Brunswick received ParticipACTION Teen Challenge funding to enhance the Bon Depart Sports Plus (Parasport) program. This program started as a way to help students with muscular dystrophy be more actively involved both inside and outside of class.  The program has grown and sparked a major change in the lives of those original students as well as their classmates. Thanks in part to the funding from the ParticipACTION Teen Challenge sponsored by Coca-Cola Canada, and Rheal's vision of a fully inclusive program, three schools in Shediac, Cap-Pelé and Notre-Dame share 22 Sport-chairs, 22 sledge hockey chairs and 4 hand cycles. Rheal's efforts have made Parasport a regular occurrence for many teens in the region, even those without disabilities. Showing teens without physical disabilities what it's like to participate in Parasports gives them a greater understanding and a new perspective on how physical disabilities don't have to be a hindrance. Parasport is now part of the regular curriculum at those three schools and the interest continues to grow. The teens who inspired this movement had difficulty having access to living an active lifestyle. Now they are active in multiple Parasports in the province.  By doing this, Rheal says, ''We're giving these kids a chance to participate in life.'' Even with his success so far, Rheal continues to advocate for full inclusion in schools and seeks to increase his fleet of Parasport chairs for years to come.

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