Maidstone students are helping support a local athlete reach her Olympic dreams.
The grade 6 class at Ratushniak Elementary School raised $650 for Astrid Nyame. The students organized a taco bag fundraiser to support Nyame is a former student of Ratushniak. She’s competed with the University of Saskatchewan picking up gold medals in the 60-metre hurdles and has since moved to Arizona for training. Nyame is now looking to compete at the 2020 Olympics.
“One of the cool facts is that Astrid came to this school in grade 6. She came here in grade 6 and our grade 6 is supporting her,” says grade 6 teacher Meghan Bellin.
Bellin says the fundraiser first started out through a school project called the wax figure project.
“The kids choose a famous actor, athlete or somebody that they aspire to. They get a biography on them. They get information on them and then present it in a statue form. They’re a statue and someone will tap them on the shoulder and they’ll come to life and they have a speech.”
Student Sophie Becotte was told about Nyame and did the project on her. While working on the project, Becotte and Bellin found her gofundme page which showed Nyame’s ambitions of being a part of the Canadian team in 2020. After hearing about it, Becotte’s classmates rallied and put together a fundraiser to help.
“I’m glad I chose her for the wax museum because it’s spiralled into this.”
Becotte says she wants to see Nyame in action at the tryouts.
“I really want to go to Montreal to see her do it but dad says no. I want to see her in person and see her compete for the Olympics and for her to do well.”
Another grade 6 student Eaxon Krafd didn’t know about Nyame until the project and is now excited to see her compete.
“She came from a completely different country and then she moved here and she ran for Ratushniak to step her way up to the Olympics.”
The school held an assembly on December 20 and the class presented the cheque to Nyame through Skype.