MARY SPENCER RESPECT - ATHLETE STORIES
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GOLD: GRADES 6 AND UP
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
BRONZE: GRADES 2 AND 3
MARY SPENCER
RESPECT
www.olympicschool.ca
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER
RESPECT
Creating a Canadian Olympic Learning Environment
This year’s Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) is the most comprehensive yet.
Each Athlete story, featuring a well-known Canadian Olympian or Olympic hopeful, is brought TEACHING GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS
to life with activities that engage students in literacy, physical activity, character challenges,
numeracy extensions and audio and video podcasts.
Current curriculum theory
Through these values-based Athlete stories, students discover that Canadian athletes reached
great success not only through tremendous physical talents, but also through character and emphasizes the importance of
intelligence. Complementing these captivating stories is the Summer Sports Day resource and reinforcing value messages through
Personal Best Challenges. Together, these resources create a foundation for teachers to inspire narratives, storytelling, art, posters,
their students to exercise their mind, body and character.
drama, and physical movement.
COSP is designed in accordance with the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Pierre
de Coubertin’s, philosophy of Olympism. By recognizing the value of Olympians and Olympic Activities based on the stories,
hopefuls as role models, the program engages students with the joy found in effort while blending events, ceremonies and symbols
sport with culture and education. The Athlete stories balance intellectual instruction, cultural of the Olympic Games have school-
development and physical education. The heart of our curriculum focuses on participation,
effort and the pride in knowing you have given your all to the pursuit of excellence. wide relevance.
Olympic Values as Educational Tools
The worldwide Olympic values of leadership, respect and healthy active living act as a foundation
for these stories. Each Athlete story will focus on the development of a character value within
Group sizes for activities will be
your students. By engaging students in each narrative, they have the opportunity to expand their indicated by the following icons:
understanding of this value and to expand their moral capabilities. As well, Personal Best Challenges
will challenge students to reach their personal best by applying the values in their everyday life Independent Activity
at school, at home or in the community.
Finding the Joy in Effort
To mimic the physical development of Olympians, each Athlete story links students to physical Small Group Activity
activities in our Canadian Olympic resources. These movement activities will encourage
students to develop physical skills over time. Students, much the same as Olympians, must first
learn movement skills that enable them to balance, walk, run, jump, skip and throw proficiently. Large Group Activity
That helps set the stage for them to master more complex movement skills and become more
proficient in sport.
Being physically active is critical to the development of healthy students encouraging them
to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They can move their bodies in creative, intelligent
ways that demonstrate their ability to adapt to different situations. Such individuals enjoy
success in a range of physical activities, and are more likely to be motivated to adopt healthy
behaviours in all aspects of life.
Blending Sport with Culture and Education
Each Athlete story is tailored to three reading levels: Bronze (grades 2 and 3), Silver (grades 4
and 5), and Gold (grades 6 and into secondary school). Each comes with progressive activities
that are open- ended and tailored to address a diverse range of learning styles and proficiencies.
They focus on six main facets of understanding: explaining, interpreting, applying, taking
perspective, empowering and developing self- knowledge. These critical thinking skills are woven
into all three stages of the learning sequence in order to promote deeper understanding of the
values and concepts.
Through many facets of the 2011-2012 Canadian Olympic School Program, children and youth
can connect values to their lives at home, at school and in their local community. Perhaps they
can begin to see their world in new and different ways.
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CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
IT TAKES AN INCREDIBLE
AMOUNT OF HARD WORK CONNECTING
TO MAKE IT AS AN Building a foundation
for new learning
OLYMPIAN, BUT IT IS
WORTH THE SACRIFICES.
PROCESSING
Using strategies to acquire
and use knowledge
TRANSFORMING
Showing understanding
in a new way
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CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
Mary Spencer stands at the end of a dark tunnel. Cheers
from the crowd sound like thunder. She closes her eyes,
letting the noise pour over her. Her fingers tingle inside
her boxing gloves.
This is the London 2012 Olympic Games and the crowd
is going wild for good reason. Today is Round 1of the first
women’s Olympic boxing competition … ever.
Respect has been a long time coming for both Mary and
her sport.
Mary is from the Cape Croker First Nations Reserve and
grew up in Windsor, Ont.
Her family didn’t have a lot of money. She wasn’t always
the best-behaved kid. She even surprisingly failed gym class.
But her life changed the first time she stepped into a
boxing ring.
“I saw what I was capable of doing,” said Mary. “It takes
a lot of hard work to make it as an Olympian.”
She knows that as she steps into the ring to battle for
Olympic gold, she is showing the kids back home what
they can do.
“BOXERS
THERE IS A LOT OF RESPECT AMONG
BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT
IT TAKES A LOT OF COURAGE TO GET IN
THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
”
“I do a lot of work with kids at Cape Croker and in Windsor,”
said Mary. “I need to win so they will know that a regular
person like me -- and them -- can do something special with
confidence and hard work.”
Through hard work, she has earned her way to the top of
the women’s boxing world. In fact, Mary has been at the
top of her sport for years.
She has won three world titles and more than 100 bouts.
During all that time, boxing was the only sport in the
Olympic Games in which women couldn’t compete.
“I’d hoped the International Olympic Committee would add
women’s boxing in 2008. They didn’t, and that was very hard
to take,” said Mary. “But I just had to regroup and hope for
2012,” said Mary.
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CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
Not being in the Olympic Games robbed the sport of women’s
boxing from any chance of gaining a high profile. There are
sports fans who don’t take her sport seriously. Maybe they
don’t like the idea of women fighting with their fists.
“It was hard to gain respect when women’s boxing wasn’t an
Olympic sport,” said Mary. “A lot of people still don’t realize
how competitive it is.”
That changed two years ago when the International Olympic
Committee announced women boxers would compete in the
London 2012 Olympic Games.
But the news was not all positive as only three weight
classes would be included and Mary didn’t make any of
them. She stayed positive, though, and moved up a weight
class to box heavier athletes. In comparing the wight
classes, the men box in 10 weight classes.
Mary has trained very hard for this moment. Even her
competitors respect how hard she practices. She wants
to win and knows what it will take.
The sport of boxing is not easy and can be challenging.
Boxers begin each bout by tapping gloves and Mary says
they often tap gloves during the bout as well, “to say
good job”.
“There is a lot of respect among boxers,” she says. “We all
know that it takes a lot of courage to get in there in the first
place. The respect we have for each other is seen after the
match. In my 10 years of boxing, I have never witnessed a
conflict between boxers outside of the ring.”
The noise continues to rise as Mary makes her way into
the ring. She spies her opponent. Now she has to get ready
to compete at the highest level.
Millions of people will be watching, but Mary knows she’s
ready. After years of waiting and fighting for respect, it is
about to arrive … win or lose.
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www.olympicschool.ca
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
STAYING POSITIVE
A NOTE ON COURAGE Staying positive at times may be
hard. No matter what, you need
FINDING THE COURAGE TO DO to keep believing in you and to
never lose sight of your dreams
SOMETHING IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. or goals.
NEVER GIVE UP AND FIND PEOPLE How does Mary stay positive?
How do you stay positive?
WHO CAN HELP YOU STAY STRONG.
WHAT IS PRESSURE?
Being nervous, is a normal
feeling for athletes as they
care a great deal about their
performance. It is expected to
feel butterflies in your stomach
and sweaty palms as you
prepare for a big event.
BEING CONFIDENT
Athletes most often perform at
their best when they are focused
on the task at hand and do not
think about the outcome of the
game or competition, such as
winning or losing the match or
the medal.
RESPECT
Respect often means knowing
what is right from wrong;
listening well, being nice, and
making the right choices.
What does it mean to be
nice to someone else?
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www.olympicschool.ca
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
Connecting – Respect placemats Transforming – A personal brochure
Teacher asks the whole class to help define respect and self- Students make a tri-fold brochure that demonstrates how they
respect. Clarify student definitions to include key ideas such as will practice respect. In each third, students write and draw to show
honouring one another, or treating all people with dignity. Move how they demonstrate respect.
students into six small working groups. Write one of the following
questions on six large sheets of paper (flip charts / Bristol boards):
- What does respecting others look like?
- What does respecting others sound like (how do you see
and act around them)?
- What does it feel like when you are being respected (how are
you treated and how do others act around you)?
- What does it feel like when you are respecting someone else?
- What does respecting myself look like?
- What does respecting my world look like?
1. Students have three minutes with their group to write or sketch
key ideas for each question.
2. On the teacher’s signal, pass all the sheets clockwise so that
each group has a new question to respond to. Continue this until
all groups have had a chance to work on each placemat.
3. With their final placemat, students read the question to the
class and choose one powerful idea to share from the page.
Note; A carousel activity, where the students move to a posted
sheet on the wall, encourages more physical activity. Students
are timed to quickly walk to the next ‘placemat”.
Processing – Role-play an interview
Ask the students to read the story silently on their own. In groups
of two, students role play an interview with Mary Spencer. The
interviewer asks the questions from the Connecting section, and
Mary Spencer answers using ideas from the text. Students practice
with their partners and present to the class.
PERSONAL BEST CHALLENGES
The following Personal Best Challenges by Canadian Olympians
and Olympic hopefuls link to the value of Healthy Active Living:
- Annamay Pierse
- Catharine Pendrel
- Reuben Ross
- Christine Girard
All challenges are available in the Canadian Olympic
School Program Challenge Guide or via podcast at www.
olympicschool.ca
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www.olympicschool.ca
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER SILVER: GRADES 4 AND 5
RESPECT
Brochure (Trifold)
I respect myself I respect others I respect my
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www.olympicschool.ca
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
ATHLETE STORIES
MARY SPENCER
RESPECT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Canadian Olympic School Program wishes to thank
and acknowledge the contributions of the following people.
Without their efforts, and creativity, this project would not
have been possible.
Featured Athletes Jennifer Abel
Mary Spencer
Simon Whitfield
Canadian Olympic Committee Monique Allain
Riley Denver
Derek Kent
Dennis Kim
Erin Mathany
Kate Moorhouse
Pascale Seide-Legros
Ben Stevenson
Graphic Designer Andy Maier
Shinead D’Souza
Website Joe Barnett
Renée Lung
Writer Kevin Sylvester
Bruce Deacon
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