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School courses meet demands of student athletes

Demanding school workloads combined with heavy training and competition schedules make it difficult for student athletes to keep pace.
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The PACE Program was designed by NIDES principal Jeff Stewart, left, teacher Brittany Hanson and Bill Green (Triple Play Athletic Promotion) to help student athletes like Sarah McKillican, second from right, achieve her academic and athletic dreams.

Demanding school workloads combined with heavy training and competition schedules make it difficult for student athletes to keep pace.

School District 71 and Navigate (NIDES ) School, one of B.C.’s premier online learning schools, has been supporting busy student athletes, dancers and youth by offering full credit, Ministry of Education-approved courses tailored to meet their needs.

The Performance Athlete Custom Education (PACE ) program first enrolled students in October, 2015 and continues to grow as more parents and student athletes discover the benefits. PACE offers a variety of athlete-oriented courses that are drawing the attention of students from across the province.

Flexibility is what makes PACE courses a perfect fit for high performance athletes such as Sarah McKillican of Comox, a member of the B.C. volleyball team that competed at the 2017 Canada Summer Games.

Online courses are free and open to any student registered in a B.C. school. Students register at www.navigatepace.com and receive full graduation credit, as if they were taking the course in their own school. Most students taking PACE courses are in full attendance at their high school but elect to use courses to replace those they could take at their school. This provides flexibility to cope with rigorous training and competitive schedules.

PACE is hosting an information session at Isfeld Secondary on Thursday, Sept 21 at 7 p.m. in Room 102. Parents and student athletes of all sports from Grades 9-12 are encouraged to attend.

Many busy athletes are choosing PACE Planning 10 Athlete instead of the regular Planning 10 course because it is oriented toward the needs of student athletes. Students wishing to play at the college or university level are also taking advantage of the opportunity to build their own recruiting webpage in PACE Applied Skills 11. Both Planning 10 and Applied Skills 11 are required for graduation.

A popular course is Independent Directed Study (IDS). Students and staff develop a self-directed course that targets the athlete’s needs. Bill Green, a former SD71 principal and professional athletic recruiting consultant, assists student athletes in developing an IDS that focuses on what university recruiters are seeking in terms of fitness, skills, academics and promotion. Students have developed courses such as, ‘What strategies and tactics can a student athlete utilize in order to increase their chances of getting an athletic scholarship?’ or ‘What is the best offseason volleyball training program to improve vertical jump and upper body strength?’

“The options for IDS course design are endless,” Green said. “We design them to meet the specific needs of individual student athletes. The real value is when busy student athletes take several PACE courses because they all work together to help them excel in the classroom and in their sport. The PACE Program is inspiring and fulfilling for parents, students and staff. Utilizing school courses to achieve academic and athletic goals is such a huge benefit.”

An added benefit is promoting positive work habits and time management skills.

“University advisors and coaches are becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of time management skills and self-discipline among student athletes,” Green said. “PACE embeds these important skills into each course.”

Staff members are available to help parents and student athletes understand how PACE courses can help them organize their school timetables and course loads around their goals of playing at the next level.