For the past two years, Glen Guevara, from Inuvik, NT, has been enrolled in the Recreation North Training Program. He completed 20 Learning Events in that time. In May 2021, Glen graduated with a Certificate in Northern Recreation Management, having already completed his Certificate in Northern Recreation Leadership. Below, Glen shared some of his thoughts on the Program..
My name is Arthur Glenn Guevara and I’m the activity aide with the Long-Term Care Unit at the Inuvik Regional Hospital. I’m responsible for providing and organizing activities, and coordinating events for our elders and seniors residing in long-term care.
My main goal is to provide meaningful activities that will improve the wellbeing of our elders and seniors, holistically—improving their physical, cognitive, social, cultural, and spiritual wellbeing. I focus on Indigenous cultures in the facility and encourage the practice of traditions, languages, foods, music, and values.
My experience with Recreation North was amazing. The courses are really informative, and you learn a lot from the group discussion. The Trainers — shout out to Caroline and Amanda — were friendly, considerate and flexible, and they were able to accommodate a working student like myself. All the materials were super helpful and useful in my role as an activity aide. It helped me to become a better and more confident recreation leader.
I also picked up a lot of ideas from my fellow classmates during our group discussions. It was a really positive experience overall.
I’d like to invite other recreational leaders to take these learning events. The workload is not too bad, around 3-4 hours per learning event and a 1 hour per week teleconference.