The grades 5 and 6 students at Davidson School are “excited about pretty much everything” concerning their trip to We Day in Saskatoon later this month, but pop rock band Hedley seems to be the big draw.

“More students want to go than we are able to take, but we are fortunate to be able to include so many by registering early and by showing commitment right from the start,” said Davidson School Grade 5 teacher Paul Stinson, noting 43 kids from the school will be heading to the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon Feb. 27 for the celebration of youth volunteerism.

“I expect this to be an inspiring experience and that the students will be bringing ideas and enthusiasm back with them from the event. Hopefully this will be a recurring event and there will be more opportunities next year for more students to participate.”

The first We Day in Saskatchewan will welcome 15,000 young people from schools across the province for a day of motivational speaking by celebrities and activists Martin Sheen, Mia Farrow and Free the Children founders Craig and Marc Kielburger as well as a concert by Hedley among other presentations.

“Hedley’s awesome,” said Grade 5 student Jesse Palmer. “I’ve never seen him before and that will be cool.”

Tickets to We Day are not sold and are only given to deserving young people who commit one act of local and one of global change for the betterment of others.

Grade 6 student Josh Warkentin said his class got tickets though their work on a toy sale they organized with the money raised going to help the less fortunate in Haiti and by working in a community garden.

Jordan Matheson, a Grade 5 student at Davidson School, said they earned their tickets to We Day by participating in Free The Children’s “Pennies for Change” initiative, which raised funds for clean water improvements in third-world countries, and building a community garden inside their classroom.

Stinson said the student’s dedication to improving the lives of others both locally and globally is nothing new for these kids as they do this every year. He said they learn about local and global issues through classes such as art and social studies and have worked on many different projects throughout the years that “show leadership and benefit others,” which makes him extremely proud of his students.

“It’s so easy to take things for granted or to focus on trivial problems,” he said. “I see classroom dynamics, how students treat each other and their willingness to work together to take action to improve things as a parallel to society as a whole. It makes me hopeful.”

Fifty years in, dance in Davidson finally has a home to call its own.

The Davidson Optimist Dance Club (DODC) moved into their two new dance studios located in the basement of the Davidson Library on Washington Avenue this past October after spending the previous six months first investigating the structure and then renovating the former Davidson School Division office space.

Vonné Johnson, president of DODC, said the 83 dance students who train at the club in the disciplines of ballet, point, jazz, hip hop, tap and lyrical can thank the generous support of the many volunteers who helped transform the offices into the two studios as well as the donations that came in from members of the community to help pay for the needed repairs.

“This is the first time since Davidson (first) had dance in the 1960s that we have our own space,” said Johnson. “We’ve always relied on using the school or using churches, so it’s nice to have our own space where we don’t have to pack everything up (after classes finish).”

Johnson said the volunteers and paid professionals took out a few walls, insulated the ceiling to keep music from reaching the upstairs library and put in two different types of flooring among other things to get the space workable for its dancers after Davidson town council first let the club go ahead with renovations of the basement last March. She said they have also installed mirrors to enlarge the space and cleaned and painted the basement rooms to “give it some colour and some life” in an effort to inspire the dancers.

The DODC offers 30 different classes to its dance students, who range in age from four to 17, on three nights a week from the beginning of September to its final recital on April 14. The club also participates in various competitions during the spring months against other dance clubs.

To read more please see the Feb. 18 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Got a sore back, neck or shoulder? Rejoice! Your salvation is at hand.

Trevor Donald, practising physiotherapist and acupuncturist, opened up a practice Jan. 25 in Davidson at the Robinson Block, located at 702 Railway Street, and will be providing services to people of all ages on Fridays of each week.

Donald, who has been practising physiotherapy for 11 years, said his area of expertise is determining movement pattern problems and developing corrective strategies, especially if it is anything that is an ongoing problem or a repetitive strain problem. He said his work on back, shoulder and neck pain most applies to people who have a muscular or skeletal problem that stems from anything including car accidents to work and sports injuries.

“I try and figure out where the problem is in the movement pattern that is creating that issue,” said Donald. “Some of them are a little more clear cut. You get some where somebody had a car accident and hurt their neck or they’re playing hockey and pulled their groin. The repetitive ones are more correcting the movement patterns.”

He said the acupuncture services he provides will release endorphins in the body, “which are your body’s natural painkillers,” treating muscle tightness. Blood flow improvement and nerve stimulation are also an advantage to the “dry needling” technique he practices.

“You don’t have to have a physician referral (to get services),” said Donald. “The only reason somebody might need it is through their health plan or their group insurance.  Sometimes they require the physician referral, but actually coming and seeing a physio (therapist), you don’t need one.”

A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Donald currently practices four days a week in Saskatoon at Flaman Physiotherapy and decided to dedicate his off day to physiotherapy in Davidson and area earlier this year. He said there were no services available before he came, so he thought providing physiotherapy and acupuncture services here would help anyone looking for help without having to travel to the city.

“With physio, we do a lot of exercise prescription as well,” he said. “It gives people exercises to work on or will help them with their gym or training program and that’s to design (the gym program) and progress as well. Physio involves a lot of the exercise component.”