Lethbridge College’s commitment to the health and wellness of the entire community has led to a new home for Be Fit for Life (BFFL).
Previously funded by the provincial government to provide fitness classes and training, BFFL centres across the province lost their funding earlier this year. The onus was then on individual centres to determine whether to keep the program and how to fund it. Lethbridge College’s unique solution is it integrate BFFL into an academic centre, creating expanded opportunities for students, while still providing fitness classes, workshops and presentations to the larger community. Be Fit for Life is now part of the college’s Centre for Business, Arts and Sciences (CBAS), where students will have opportunities to get hands-on with their learning.
“We saw the value provided to the community by BFFL and an opportunity to develop a synergistic relationship, which will result in growth and development opportunities through several collaborations and joint offerings,” says Dr. Kevin Smith, Dean, CBAS. “All post-secondary institutions in Alberta are required to have work-integrated learning opportunities as part of their performance metrics. Aligning with BFFL will allow CBAS to immediately embed those opportunities for our student cohorts as separate courses or as part of existing service-learning options.”
Be Fit for Life has traditionally offered group fitness, yoga and physical activity classes, along with a variety of specialized services such as fitness leadership accreditation, occupational fitness testing, professional development opportunities, workplace wellness sessions, and educational sessions for classrooms of all ages with a focus in physical literacy and wellness research.
These activities will not only continue in Lethbridge College’s BFFL, but will have the opportunity to expand, as CBAS students – which includes students in Business Administration, Administrative Office Professional, General Arts and Science, Exercise Science, academic upgrading and the English Language Centre – become involved in creating and leading BFFL content.
“This means students from CBAS will be able to run presentations and workshops, or take part in instruction, in real-world settings,” says Caylee Vogel, program administrator, BFFL. “It will allow students to sample areas they may want to pursue as potential careers, while also building student core competencies, which prepare them to enter the workforce with skills desired by employers.”
Be Fit for Life programming will be integrated into CBAS curriculum beginning in the Fall 2021 semester, with increased offerings available for Winter 2021. Applications for the 2021-22 academic year are open now.
To learn more about Be Fit for Life, visit the Lethbridge College website.