ACTIVITYSHEET Colour the Olympic rings below. Make up your own symbol for an Olympic Day in your school or community. Draw it in the space above the Olympic rings. Describe your symbol and what it means. Make a study of other national and international symbols. Find them in newspapers or magazines. For example, what does a red cross or a red crescent mean? What do these symbols represent? CHECKLIST ACTIVITY 1 ACTIVITY 2 ACTIVITY 3 30TEACHINGVALUES SECTION 2 CELEBRATING THE VALUES THROUGH SYMBOL AND CEREMONY 123

TEACHING VALUES AN OLYMPIC EDUCATION TOOLKIT BEFORE YOU READ – QUESTIONS TO ASK Have you seen the Olympic flag flying anywhere? Where? What does it look like? READING 1 When all the athletes have marched into the Olympic stadium during an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, it gets very quiet. Then from one end of the stadium eight people dressed in white enter the stadium. Each of them is holding an edge of the Olympic flag. Holding the flag tight between them, they move around the Olympic track. They stop at the flag pole, attach the flag and then begin to raise the Olympic flag. A huge choir sings the Olympic anthem. It is a very emotional moment for the athletes and spectators in the stadium. During the Olympic Games the Olympic flag is flown wherever other flags are flown in the Olympic city. The flag symbolises that the city is now living under the Olympic spirit. During the Closing Ceremony, the flag is lowered and given to the mayor of the city that is the host of the next Olympic Games. READING 2 Flag Waving From a Wheelchair4 Sam Sullivan, the mayor of Vancouver, lives his life in a wheelchair and has minimal hand movement. He said he didn't want someone waving the nearly five- " THE EIGHT OF US HAD THE EXTRAORDINARY HONOUR OF CARRYING THE FLAG INTO THE STADIUM AND SEE IT BEING RAISED FOR THE DURATION OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES. I WAS HONOURED TO BE PICKED AS THE ONE REPRESENTING THE ENVIRONMENT… IT WAS AN EMOTIONAL AND HUMBLING EXPERIENCE." ( JACQUES COUSTEAU) 3 FLYINGTHEFLAG SECTION 2 CELEBRATING THE VALUES THROUGH SYMBOL AND CEREMONY TEACHINGVALUES31 USE THIS ACTIVITY TO INTRODUCE THE IDEA OF FLAGS AS SYMBOLS. HELP LEARNERS TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE PURPOSES OF NATIONAL FLAGS AND OF THE OLYMPIC FLAG. NATIONAL FLAGS SUPPORT NATIONAL PRIDE. THE OLYMPIC FLAG REPRESENTS INTERNATIONAL UNITY THROUGH SPORT AND THE OLYMPIC VALUES. 3 O'Sullivan, M. Environment a key theme at Olympics. Voice of American News, February 10, 2002. Sourced online: http:// greennature. com/ article835. html., June 25, 2006. 4 Excerpted from CBC News. ( 2006). " Vancouver mayor to wave Olympic flag from his wheelchair. Online: http:// www. cbc. ca/ story/ canada/ national/ 2006/ 02/ 24/ v ancouver- mayor060224. html. Sourced July 31, 2006. metre flag for him. " That's completely against everything I stand for. I want to be able to do it myself," said Sullivan. With one billion viewers expected to watch the Closing Ceremony, Sullivan said the symbolism of taking the flag was important. " There are many people with disabilities who have e- mailed me and said this is really quite a profound moment for them as well as for me and other people with disabilities in Canada," said Sullivan. To solve Sullivan's problem, engineers and volunteers in Vancouver designed a three- angled flag- holder to mount on the armrest of his wheelchair. It had to be designed for a number of scenarios. " That's one big flag. If the wind takes it, do I end up on my face or falling off the edge of the stage?" Sullivan said. When IOC President Jacques Rogge handed him the flag, Sullivan moved his motorised wheelchair back and forth, to get the flag to wave. AboveSalt Lake City 2002: Eight world heroes/ heroines carry in the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony. Below Turin 2006: At the Closing Ceremony, the Olympic flag was passed to Sam Sullivan, the Mayor of Vancouver, Canada, host city for the 2010 Winter Games.