Nick Laws, Prince Rupert Northern View

A teacher at Charles Hays secondary school is trying something new to fight back against poor attendance at his northern B.C. school.

Dane Waldal although relatively new to Charles Hays, has been teaching for quite some time and he has noticed a pattern, a pattern he is trying to change.

B次元官网网址� Every school IB次元官网网址檝e worked at has always had its issues with attendance, so I figured I could contribute a little bit in my own way.B次元官网网址�

WaldalB次元官网网址檚 way is a kickboxing class that gets the kids off their seats and on their feet. The catch? Attendance is mandatory, but not for his class, for all of the studentB次元官网网址檚 other classes.

In order for kids to participate in the twice-weekly class, they will have to attend all other classes, and have their slips signed by their teachers. The results speak for themselves.

Anna Ashley, a fellow teacher at Charles Hays has noticed a change in the students enrolled in WaldalB次元官网网址檚 class.

B次元官网网址淚 have noticed that since he has had an incentive program with them, they are doing more of their work and they are paying attention in class because they want to participate in his class.B次元官网网址�

The school switched from a semester program to a trimester program, which gave teachers the opportunity to open up two 45-minute classes per week. WaldalB次元官网网址檚 love of martial arts is what drove him to start the class.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been a martial artist for over a decade, IB次元官网网址檝e competed in wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing and kickboxing, so I wanted to give the kids an opportunity to participate in the same thing that I love.B次元官网网址�

Waldal has tweaked the traditional kickboxing training techniques, for a more school safe environment. Instead of the traditional heavy bags, pads and mats, Waldal has implemented the use of shortened pool noodles as instruction tools.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have the equipment for wrestling or jiu-jitsu, but with kickboxing, weB次元官网网址檝e got a big open space and some tools we can use to modify it.B次元官网网址�

Waldal says that he chose martial arts partly because of his love for the sport, but also for the discipline factor involved in martial arts, taking years of repetition to reach your potential. Something he equates to school and life in general.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 encouraging them to get to class, get there on time and put the work in every day and then good things are going to come from there.B次元官网网址�

Although the early stages have yielded positive results for both sides, Ashley warns that too many incentive-based programs may not be the path to go down just yet.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a win-win for both sides right now and I think thereB次元官网网址檚 always room for things that incentivize children to do different things. That being said, I donB次元官网网址檛 know if we always want to say in order to get this, you have to do that.B次元官网网址�

For Waldal, as long as the kids continue to have fun and keep their attendance up he is going to keep the class going.

B次元官网网址� I canB次元官网网址檛 be happier with the direction itB次元官网网址檚 going, just hoping more kids get into it and more kids want to sign up.B次元官网网址�

nick.laws@thenorthernview.com
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