Classroom Champion Paralympian visits Alwin Holland Elementary students

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — While Greg Stewart captured Paralympic gold in the shot put, his toughest task this week was engaging with elementary school students.

Stewart was at Fort St. John’s Alwin Holland Elementary School on Wednesday, June 3rd, speaking to students as part of the Classroom Champions program.

This is the first year the school has been involved with the initiative, which was launched by American bobsledder Steve Mesler and his sister, Dr. Leigh Parise, in 2009.

Its aim is to match athletes with students to support social and emotional learning and academic performance. 

Born in Victoria without the lower part of his left arm, Stewart told Energeticcity.ca his appearance was part of the program’s year-end celebration, which also featured students from Bert Ambrose Elementary.

At 7-feet-2 inches tall, Stewart said his biggest challenge is not having one arm, but rather his height.

“This has been such a humbling experience,” Stewart told Energeticcity.ca. “The joy [and] the energy of these kids is something I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before.”

“The gratitude they are showing [and] the excitement [they have]. It’s just been such a welcoming experience.”

Stewart has been in contact with students at Alwin Holland since January, said principal Janny Lavoie.

“[Stewart has] come a couple of times on Zoom and done assemblies virtually with our students [and] really worked to support the virtues that our school is learning about and working on,” said Lavoie. “I think we are seeing a larger sense of community happening, and we’re working hard to bring that to our students.”

Assistant principal and gym teacher Palma Vasarhelyi felt Stewart’s mentorship of classes at the school taught the children about resiliency, perseverance and determination.

“I thought it would be really well connected to gym [classes],” said Vasarhelyi. “Obviously, we have a very high-level athlete, who would be wonderful, giving us advice [on] how to handle emotions, sportsmanship and all the virtues that we are working on throughout the year with the students.”

“He has these three-and-a-half-minute videos that talk about a certain topic. That is how I introduced Greg to the students, and then after that we arranged a live conversation through Zoom with Greg, and of course we continue to tie everything to ‘What would Greg do’ [and] ‘how would Greg handle the situation in life?’”

Stewart also took part in a shot put demonstration in the afternoon, where ten-minute stations were set up around the school’s greenspace, including Indigenous handgames, chalk drawing, Indigenous storytelling, tug of war, and more.

The event took place at Alwin Holland Elementary School on Wednesday, June 3rd, and was sponsored by Petronas Canada, which also served a barbecue lunch for students and staff.