Current physical education student, Casey Scheidegger, is poised to integrate the sport of curling in the K-12 classroom
The value that sports brings to individuals and communities can hardly be disputed. University of Lethbridge student, Casey Scheidegger is in the process of completing a Combined Degrees program – Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology as well as her Bachelor of Education in Physical Education (2013).
With this background it is not surprising that she is a strong proponent of “physical literacy,” the idea that “if we give children the opportunity to do the right physical activities at the right time in their development, more of them will enjoy getting active and staying active” (Canadian Sport For Life).
Coming from a sports family, Casey developed an early love for curling. In addition to competing at a national level in in Ladies’ Juniors (under 21), she has participated in world curling tournaments.
In 2007 she became involved with the Lethbridge junior curling program for children and has since developed a more formal method of instruction. “I wanted to ensure that kids obtained more skills at this age, that they could use in curling and other sports,” she explains.
In addition to being able to undertake a combined degrees, one of the things that she values about the U of L teacher education program is that she will receive K-12 certification. As a physical education teacher she will, therefore, have an opportunity not only to promote physical literacy across all grade levels, but to also promote her sport.
“Curling is not mainstream and because of this it tends to get excluded from the curriculum,” Casey notes. Obviously one of the challenges is to get around the need for a rink. At the elementary level, the Canadian Curling Association has developed an in-school curling program called “Rocks & Rings,” whereby trained instructors bring customized equipment to schools for day-long visits. For junior and high school students, she is certainly up to the challenge of developing interdisciplinary materials to teach the game in her own classroom.