How playing hockey could help earn high school credits on P.E.I.

Starting in September, students will be able to put their work at Andrews Sports Institutetoward their high school education.

Students enrolled in a new program at the institute, called discover leadership through sports,will be given an external high school credit upon completing the course.

The course is set to get underway in the fall, said Ben MacDonald, director of ASI.

The program is only open for youth enrolled in a public high school on P.E.I.Running for 15 weeks, a majority of the course will be done online, while students in the program will do on-ice sessions during the school'sprofessional development days.

ASI is a part of Andrews Hockey, an organization that offers hockey development courses for players of all skill levels on P.E.I.The new program is run by the ASI division of Andrews Hockey through the fall and winter.

'Great opportunity'

"[Students] could take a full course load, and this is all done externally, so this could be a fifth course that they add to their transcript," said MacDonald.

"We think it's a great opportunity for studentsto add to their wealth of knowledge that they're learning within the school system as well."

There are different aspects to the program. There are leadership andreading portions as well asa hockey skills component. Also included is a passion project, where students will develop a business to help pay their parents back for the cost of the program, said MacDonald.

But, MacDonald said this course is not a replacement for other school work, and the program will emphasize gettingregular school work done first.

"That's a big thing. We don't want them to join this program and then see their other schooling taper off. So, we want to make sure that ... they've got all their other school work done and then they get their ASIwork done," he said.

This echoes the message from the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning.

The credit given by the program will not replace learning inside of the school, but serve as an external way for students to learn, said Lori Ronahan, flexible learning and innovation co-ordinator with the department.

"They can't mimic normal high school credits. They can't duplicate what we do in the school itself," said Ronahan.

ASIneeded to get approval from the department to be able to offer the credit, which required an intensive application process, said Ronahan.

"They need to have a level of rigour that matches or exceeds what would be offered provincially. And they need to assure us that they are addressing competencies with the students that help them to grow and become better lifelong learners," she said.

Experiential learning

The Department of Education has a number ofcourses like this, called experiential learning courses, that are available to students on P.E.I.

The courses not only allow students totake what they've learned in the classroom and apply it in the real world, but also allow students to bring skills they've learned back to their peers in the classroom, said Ronahan.

Currently, ASI only offers the one course that is eligible for high school credit, but MacDonald said they're thinking about expanding to other sports in the future.

Registration for the course is currently open with online classes beginning in the fall. The first in-person sessions are expected to start in October, said MacDonald.

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