W.G. Murdoch School is very excited to announce that it will be offering a National Sport Development (NSD) Program, beginning the 2012/13 school year! Open to Grade 6 – 12 students of all skill levels residing in Airdrie, Crossfield, and surrounding communities, the NSD program will be built around 100 hours of professional coaching instruction, 70 hours of which is dedicated to ice time, 20 hours to dry land training, and 10 hours to class time.
By combining academics with high-performance hockey, the NSD program presents a tremendous opportunity for students to achieve Alberta’s educational learning outcomes, while taking part in sport. Designed to improve athletic skill and develop work ethic, the NSD program has been tailored to our school’s learning outcomes, curriculum requirements, and objectives, which will help students experience even greater success as 21st Century learners. A concerted effort involving the jurisdiction, the Town of Crossfield, and various community organizations, the NSD program also serves as an excellent example of how taking a more generative approach to governance can result in communities becoming more engaged in student learning, and in students becoming more engaged through a passion-based learning program.
Parents interested in the program will want to know that W.G. Murdoch provides educational programming for approximately 350 students in grades 6 – 12. It is a multi-level school with a certified staff of 20, and 10 support staff members. In addition to our full core program offered on site, we host a distributed learning environment in which students can expand their course choices with opportunities through online learning. W.G. Murdoch School also offers in-house comprehensive exploratory pathways in fine and digital art, the performing arts – band, drama, and dance, the practical arts – cooking and construction, leadership, outdoor education, and science exploration. All of our learner pathways can be followed from grades 6 – 12 . W.G. Murdoch students also have the opportunity to participate in inter-school competitions in volleyball, basketball, badminton, track and field and cross-country running, and curling. Performing arts students have opportunities to compete and perform year long as well.
The NSD Program is the first of several components of a new “Xcel Program”. Future plans include the implementation of additional components, including fine and performing arts, figure skating, and golf. By implementing Xcel, we are opening personal learning pathways that build on partnerships which will provide our students with passion based learning programs of choice. We believe that excellence is not just achieved through academic success, but applies to all walks of life.
We believe that families have a right to choose a program that will allow them to incorporate their child`s passion learning (for credits) with their core education during regular school hours. This permits students to re-claim their family time, and gives parents the ability to re-claim their children`s time during after-school hours. We believe that students must be willing to work hard in order to qualify for the Xcel program, thus cultivating a strong culture of excellence at all levels within the school.
We currently have excellent infrastructure in place to operate the Xcel program. Our school is located next door to Crossfield’s arena and community center, providing efficient access to all facilities required. In the first phase of development with our hockey program, we have been running a workshop series this year. Students have reported lots of fun and learning on the ice with Mr. Binner, the coach from NSD:
“I loved the NSD hockey program. I liked how positive it was and I liked the drills. I have seen such a change in my game, I am controlling the puck better, and am making smarter choices. I highly recommend it for kids to try to get that extra step in their game”. ~ Ford K.
“NSD was a great program to practice shooting and other skills. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed it. After the program was done I was starting to play better in games and practices. We did a ton of skating and worked hard, but we also had a lot of fun, scrimmaging and doing other fun things. Mr. Binner was a really good coach and was very nice. I really enjoyed this program and would recommend it for anyone who plays hockey”. ~ Maddi B.
Check it out! NSD Hockey Program @ WG Murdoch School 2012-2013
