Ophea Awards & Recognition
Ophea (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association) is dedicated to supporting Ontario school communities through advocacy, quality programs and services, and partnership building. Ophea is led by the vision that all kids will value, participate in, and make a lifelong commitment to active, healthy living.
Every year, Ophea presents a number of awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the fields of health, physical activity and H&PE. Ophea believes it is a priority to recognize excellence in the field by honouring distinguished individuals and organizations for their significant achievements.
*** 2008 Ophea Awards and Recognition ***
On Friday, October 17th, the 2008 Ophea Awards will be presented at the Ophea Kids' Health Conference. If you have someone you would like to nominate, please view the 2008 Ophea Awards and the 2008 Awards Nomination Packages. In order to download the nomination packages, you will require Adobe Reader. You can download your free copy of Adobe Reader here.
The 2007 Ophea Awards recipients were:
Ophea Award of Distinction
Elio Antunes
Ophea Award for Outstanding Contribution
The Ophea Award for Outstanding Contribution recognizes an individual, group, or organization for their exemplary contribution to the lives of children and youth in the areas of health and physical education, health and physical activity promotion, advocacy, and/or community development.
Tina Moneypenny
School Community Award
The Ophea School Community Award is presented to a school community that has demonstrated leadership and excellence in successfully bringing together all members of the community (including parents, teachers, boards of education, public health, sport and recreation organizations, community coalitions, local businesses, and municipal governments).
James R. Henderson Public School - Limestone District School Board
Outstanding New Professional Award
The Outstanding New Professional Award is presented to an individual who has been working in the health and education sector for five years or less. Although new to the field, this recipient has already demonstrated a passion for, and made a notable contribution to, the advancement of active, healthy living for children and youth.
Andrea Yeung
Bios
Ophea Award of Distinction ~ Elio Antunes
Elio has been a dedicated leader in health and physical education, making a significant impact on the importance of active healthy living among children and youth. Elio has just recently stepped down as Executive Director of Ophea, a position he held for almost 21 years. As Ophea’s very first staff person, Elio has been pivotal in building Ophea as the organization it is today. Under Elio’s guidance Ophea expanded, developed resources and partnerships, eliminated membership fees, and took its supports online.
While at Ophea, Elio worked closely with government, education, health and private sector partners. Elio and the Ophea board of directors worked with key leaders and organizations in Health and Physical Education in the province to lead the development of the Healthy Active Living Curriculum Standards, Grades 1-9 in 1997. This document was a key body of collaborative work that formed the basis for the development of the 1998 and 1999 Grades 1-8 and Grades 9-10 Health and Physical Education provincial curricula. Elio also led advocacy efforts which have resulted in policy changes such as Daily Physical Activity, H&PE Curriculum and Healthy Schools.
Stepping down from Ophea, Elio leaves an organization with over 20 unique programs and resources, 30 staff members and a multi-million dollar operating budget. Elio has guaranteed that Ophea’s team of committed staff members have the skills and knowledge to ensure that the organizations’ vision is carried into the future.
In 1994 Elio became the Executive Director for Active Healthy Kids Canada. In this role, Elio has led the development of an annual Report Card to provide an ongoing comprehensive measurement of how Canada is collectively demonstrating its responsibility in providing physical activity opportunities for children and youth. This past September Elio began a new position as the Vice President of Partnerships and Chief Operating Officer with the “New” ParticipACTION. As well as his professional commitments, Elio is an involved and caring husband and father of two children. He is a volunteer soccer coach in his community, and has been a dedicated volunteer for both hockey and ringette.
Elio is an entrepreneur who believes in taking risks. He is a visionary, who’s commitment and passion to the health of children and youth has effected positive change and ensured a bright future.
Top
Ophea Award of Outstanding Contribution ~ Tina Moneypenny
Tina Moneypenny has been teaching with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board for the past thirteen years. She is currently the Health & Physical Education teacher for Kindergarten to Grade 6 at St. Mary’s School in Collingwood, Ontario. Tina is a dedicated and creative teacher that took the initiative to immediately develop long term plans that would provide essential skills for her students through a progression of activities using the Ontario Curriculum.
In the past three years, Tina has planned and implemented a school wide Physical Education and House Team Program that encourages students and staff participation in a variety of physical and health activities. Her Programs focus on developing physical fitness while having fun. Some activities include; the Walk across Canada Challenge, the Terry Fox Run, school-wide capture the flag, the Ophea Fitness Challenge, activ8 Challenges, intramurals during lunch time and a skipping club. Tina also coaches basketball, volleyball and junior floor hockey. She has also trained older students to act as playground leaders in the PROP Program (Peer Running Organized Playgroups).
Tina has been influential in developing unique ways to achieve twenty minutes of Daily Physical Activity (DPA) throughout the day. As a contributing member of the Board level DPA Implementation Committee she is involved in organizing system level professional development opportunities for teachers. At St. Mary’s, she has trained Grade 6 students to act as DPA demonstrators in each class, trained staff in a variety of DPA activities and supports their efforts with music and resources and organized DPA stations in the hall during the winter months.
Tina strives to be a good role model for her two girls (ages 5 and 8) since they are what drive her. She also tries to focus her work on empowering girls and improving confidence. Tina has been a head coach for the Girls on the Run Program at her school for 22 female students who were at-risk for self-esteem issues, and participated with the girls in a 5km run. She is also often found running with a fellow staff member during her lunch break.
Tina has had enormous impact in building and maintaining school spirit by encouraging enthusiasm for physical activity in all students. She believes in the importance of being physically active and is passing this message to the entire community of St. Mary’s School.
Top
School Community Award ~ James R. Henderson Public School - Limestone District School Board
James R. Henderson Public School located in Kingston, Ontario is proud to be the model school in the Limestone District. As a Living School, it plans and implements a comprehensive school health approach within the school and the community. The school gets students physically active, provides parents with additional knowledge and provides opportunities for community professionals to get involved in supporting active healthy living.
J.R. Henderson is a dual track (English & French) elementary school and is the largest public school located in Kingston. When the school was originally built it was meant to accommodate 350 students, fifty years later, the school has over 750 students enrolled. With little in physical structure, the community has worked together to provide extensive opportunities for active healthy living for all students. The school community is currently in the process of rejuvenating their school yard to provide a more physically active friendly environment. Parents, students, staff, local businesses and the Board of Education have worked together to create a yard that includes a mini-put golf course, a peace park, outdoor volleyball court, additional basketball courts, pavement games and asphalt pads.
In the past year, J.R. Henderson has partnered with many community groups to support their goal of healthy active living. The Parent Council has been a key supporter in promoting healthy snack & lunch programs and providing DPA equipment. Their recreation partners have provided the school community with subsidized school trips to recreation centres, skating rinks and offered discounted programs in the school facility to students of the community. K.F.L. & A. Public Health has provided ongoing support with Family Fitness Nights, nutrition education, Community Food Advisors, the ‘Teens Trashing Tobacco’ program for intermediate students and with financial contributions to support DPA. Local businesses also have been important by supplying water and subsidized snacks during school wide activity days.
James R. Henderson has truly become the hub of their community and an inspiration to all school in Ontario!
Top
Outstanding New Professional Award ~ Andrea Yeung
Andrea Yeung has just started her fifth year of teaching at Highgate Public School in Markham, Ontario. She has taught in primary and junior divisions, however she has recently become a full time Health & Physical Education teacher. She has made a significant contribution to the advancement of active & healthy living to all students at her school. Her passion for promoting health is demonstrated in her endeavors and achievements, especially her involvement in providing quality Daily Physical Activity (DPA) and integrating physical activity throughout the curriculum.
Andrea takes the initiative to create unit and assessment strategies based on the Ontario Curriculum for students from Kindergarten – Grade 8 in areas such as gymnastics, rugby, yoga and disco dancing. She collaborates with a curriculum consultant to support the Health & Physical Education program at her school. Andrea has developed and implemented a school-wide approach for 20 minutes of DPA and supports other schools in the York Region District School Board in implementation DPA. She enjoys working with a variety of community organizations to build capacity within the school community to promote physical activity and healthy living. Throughout the school year, Andrea plans and organizes school wide events and programs such as the Healthy Lunch Program, Intramurals, Winter Electives, Workshops for Parents and DPA Events. As a member of the York Region District School Board Healthy Schools Team, she has presented at board wide DPA workshops. Her influence extends beyond her students, as she is also a site supervisor for the OISE University of Toronto internship program and the Ryerson Nursing Program.
Andrea has been recognized with numerous awards for her achievements in 2006-07 including the CIRA Outstanding Achievement Intramural Program Award, the CAHPERD Elementary School Gold Recognition Award, the Parks & Recreation Ontario Winter & Summer Commemorative Plaques, the Active Schools TVOKids Don’t Sit Still Cup, the Active Healthy School Pennant, and Highgate Public School was also the 2006 activ8 Challenge Contest Winner. Andrea’s work with DPA has also been highlighted in articles appearing in several newsletters and the Fit to Learn magazine.
Top
Ophea Awards & Recognition