RBC Helps Bring the Olympic Spirit to Classrooms with Olympic Torch Relay Kit and National Contest
Students get chance to be 2010 Olympic Torchbearers
RBC and the Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) today unveiled the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay School Kit, to help bring the Olympic Spirit to classrooms across Canada.
Presented by RBC, COSP has produced a kit of free educational resources to engage students in the excitement of the Olympic Movement. The kit brings the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay to life while meeting provincial learning outcomes in social studies, language arts, math, science and physical activity.
“The Olympic Flame is one of the most visible and inspiring symbols of the Games,” said David Bedford, Canadian Olympic Committee Executive Director, Marketing & Communications. “Working with RBC to incorporate it into our educational programs helps educate students on the values of the Olympic Movement and grow the excitement and support across Canada for our athletes and the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.”
In addition to torch relay-related facts, figures and activities, the COSP kit will also include an exciting opportunity for teachers and students across the country to carry the Olympic Flame. RBC is encouraging Canadians to create a better Canada by pledging to do something big or small in their daily lives to make Canada a better place to live. By making a pledge, Canadians will automatically enter the Carry the Torch contest for a chance to be an Olympic Torchbearer.
In keeping with the spirit of RBC’s Carry the Torch contest, teachers, coaches and school leaders will work with their students to submit a team pledge through the COSP. Team pledges will chronicle how they are going to improve their community, be more environmentally-friendly, or live healthier lifestyles. RBC and COSP will review the pledges and award 16 teams of 20 students, 13 and over, and teachers with the chance to be an Olympic Torchbearer. Each team will collectively carry the Olympic Flame for one kilometre during a local leg of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.
“Through the COSP contest, teachers and students are being given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay,” says Jacqueline Ryan, Director, Olympic Marketing, RBC. “We encourage participating teachers and school leaders to visitto learn more about this exciting program and the opportunity to be an Olympic Torchbearer.”
The COSP contest will run from March 10 to May 12, 2009. Winners of the team torchbearer spots will be announced the week of June 22, 2009.
The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay will begin its journey to Vancouver on October 30, 2009, when the flame arrives in Victoria, British Columbia following the traditional lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece. The Olympic Flame will then travel from coast to coast to coast through every province and territory in Canada – spanning 45,000 kilometres, 1,020 communities, over 106 days. It will end at B.C. Place on February 12, 2010, with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, signalling the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
