Roughrider wide receiver Brayden Lenius reads books to students at La Ronge's Pre-Cam Community School. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

role models

Roughriders educate, spend time with local students

Mar 22, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Saskatchewan Roughriders Brayden Lenius and Peter Godber spent the last two days in the tri-communities promoting literacy and mental health to local students.

The professional athletes arrived in La Ronge on Wednesday evening and spent Thursday talking with students from Air Ronge’s Gordon Denny Community School and La Ronge’s Churchill Community High School. They then spent all of Friday at La Ronge’s Pre-Cam Community School.

“We do two things. So, for the kids from Kindergarten to Grade 4, we do the Rider Reading, so we like to promote reading and all the education about it, and then for Grades 5 to 9, the smaller schools we will get up to Grade 12, we talk about mental health and mental wellness,” Lenius said.

“It’s called the Win with Wellness Player Presentation Series, so that’s on mental health and mental wellness and things how they can cope with stress, anxiety and different things that they go through in life.”

The mental health presentation focuses on two concepts called the Playbook and the Backpack. The Playbook is a mental toolbox they can draw from when they are feeling anxious, depressed, confused, or stressed to help them deal with a situation, while the Backpack is physical and are items someone carries with them to help them get through situations that are overwhelming.

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Lenius explained it is important students hear those messages from people like himself and Godber.

Roughrider offensive lineman Peter Godber delivers a presentation about mental health. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“I think hearing it from a male and a figure like us in the community, especially with what we do and they see us on TV, for us to be honourable with them and connect with them and let them know we are the same just like them,” he said.

“We get stress like them, we get hurt like them, we get anxiety like them. For them to see that and for us to break that barrier, I think it means the world to them. Kids eyes don’t lie. You can see when they take something in, you can see when they are going through something. When they share and when they participate, it makes a world of difference and we can all connect on it.”

Pre-Cam vice-principal Joel Stange said he has heard nothing but good feedback from students and teachers about the visit from the Riders. He noted administration has been trying to get more speakers and organizations to come into the school to do such presentations after a break due to the pandemic.

“Brayden and Peter were amazing ambassadors,” Stange said.

“They really spread a good message about literacy and how important it is to be reading consistently. The other thing would be the mental health as well, and the conversations with the Grades 4 to 6. It is a great topic for those kids to be speaking about with the Riders and I think that was really nice from them to hear from someone from outside of the community who can share their knowledge and expertise.”

Stange added he would like to see more visits from the Roughriders in the future considering the football program at Churchill and the flag football program at Pre-Cam. He said nothing gets students more excited about the sport than to meet others who are playing the game on a professional level.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com