Option Course Descriptions

 2022- 2023 Jr High Options Descriptions

Sport/Games & Intramural Leadership

Would you like to develop your basic skills in a variety of different sports?  Would you like to develop your leadership skills?  Do you have a sport expertise that you’d love to share with younger students and help them improve their skills?  Students in sports leaders class have endless opportunities to be a leader for our Westmount family.  We are looking for students that are interested in planning, organizing, coaching and reffing intramurals for our elementary students and setting-up and score keeping for our basketball/volleyball games.

Our goal is to help develop essential basic physical literacy to give students the confidence to be active for a lifestyle.  We also want to build essential life skills such as organization, motivation, communication and working with others-all which enable our sports leaders to inspire our Westmount community to live more active and healthy lifestyles.

Healthy Active Lifestyle/Sport Performance

Would you like to lead a healthy and active lifestyle?  Would you like to improve your overall fitness level?  Would you like to develop and enhance your basic skills for a variety of sports?  Students in this option will explore different ways they can be active for life.  This will be through a variety of different workouts focusing on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, speed, and stamina building  They will also work on developing their skills for different sports, through sport units and games units.

Our goal is to help develop essential basic healthy lifestyles and build on students basic physical literacy skills. 

Den

The Den is a block dedicated to working on school assignments (homework/projects) and studying. It may also include the teaching of Learning Strategies based on the needs of the class.  Students may use this time to complete assignments, review and/or study (self/peers), organize their locker/binders etc.. with a focus on improving academic success.  Students are expected to come to class prepared to engage in a productive work period.  Alternately, if students have no assignments or review to complete, they will be asked to read a book.  Reading practice is critical to improving reading skills and academic success.   

French

Through games, reading, short plays and interactive computer experiences, students will begin to speak, listen, read and write in French. French as a Second Language (FSL) offers important cultural, linguistic, career development opportunities. 

Classroom Leadership

Do you have an interest in volunteering in Elementary classrooms and working with younger students?  Under the guidance of teachers, Classroom leaders work in a variety of roles including mentorship for younger students and/or completing organizational tasks.  Classroom Leaders provides students an opportunity to develop their leadership skills including communication and collaboration .  

Wolfpack Leadership

This course is an opportunity to get involved in our school community and develop your leadership skills through work in committees.  In this option, we plan and organize school wide events.  In addition, Wolfpack Leadership will bring back student ‘voice’ to our school by establishing a Student Council for grades 7, 8 and 9.

Hunting/Fishing Education

Fee - $90/semester

Are you interested in combining different skills and a love for the outdoors?  Want to try new things out for lifelong activity?  If so, this class is going to be a great one for you.  Students will be involved in learning about the traditions, roles, responsibilities, ethics, and most importantly the ecology of hunting, fishing and the outdoors.  This class will allow for students to properly identify animals and fish, learn about appropriate camp tool use, as well as experiencing different opportunities such as archery, range shooting, and fishing still and/or moving waters.  There will be multiple day trips to explore different areas of town, the region, and mountains.  There will be a course fee for this class which will cover, but it is not necessarily limited to, transportation, guest teachers, gear/consumables, and facility cost where applicable. 

Woods/Construction

Fee- $40/semester

Want to do something creative?  Build something from nothing and be proud of your accomplishment?  Come and join Woods class, we would love to have you.  Students will learn about appropriate and safe tool use to start off.  They will learn to design, measure, and build a project from scratch.  Some ideas may incorporate planning, constructing, assembling, finishing, and evaluating projects.  Time and project management will be an important skill to learn and use throughout your project.  Come prepared to get your hands dirty and become creative!

Outdoor Leadership

Fee - $300/semester

Would you like to learn about yourself by engaging in outdoor adventures?  Throughout this course students will be actively engaged with a variety of outdoor activities that will be used to foster growth, responsibility and develop student leadership characteristics. Students will be encouraged to strive for the three pillars of our Westmount Outdoor Education Mission Statement, those being;

1. Play safely in the Outdoors and reconnect to nature

2. Become a steward for the environment.

3. Develop personal, character and leadership skills

In each term, students are expected to spend 8-10 days in the field with a potential of 1-2 multi-day/overnight trips. Students will day hike, backpack, rock climbing/bouldering, cross country ski, snowshoe, indoor pool kayak, learn camp skills, Leave No Trace Principles, navigation, map/compass work, etc. The course fee covers our transportation, guest teachers, gear, permits and facility rentals where applicable.

Drama

Fee - $5/semester

Drama is designed for students who are interested in developing their acting skills with performances just in class time, that allows them to develop their confidence as a performer. Students are introduced to drama through six main areas of study: movement, speech, improvisation, acting, theatre studies and technical theatre, as per the Program of Studies. This is a participation based class where students gain self- confidence through various orientation exercises, games, short scenes, improvisation and characterization. 

Musical Theatre - Full Year

Fee - $35/year

Musical Theatre is designed for students who are interested in learning various aspects of performance techniques. Students will have the opportunity to learn acting, singing and dancing all at the same time, with the common goal of participating in the Annual Westmount School Musical Theatre Performance. Performance skills will be developed through auditioning, building character and preparing for our year end performance. This is a participation based class that provides students with a variety of experiences that develop self-expression, creativity and communication through music and drama. 

STEM

Fee - $20/semester 

Are you curious about how the world works?  Enjoy creating new things that challenge your skills? Students use their imagination to explore science, technology, engineering, and math, and have fun! Students bust myths, apply forensic techniques (new!), make fossil replicas, upcycle garbage into useful and beautiful things, design their own experiments and create educational displays. This course requires students to be able to work independently and demands creativity. Our goal is to explore real-life applications of science and engineering – where you may not expect them.

New Media 

Fee - $20/semester

New media is any media – from music and podcasts to newspaper articles and blogs – that are delivered digitally. From a website or email to mobile phones and streaming apps, any internet-related form of communication can be considered new media. Do you post videos on your YouTube channel? Do you check what’s being posted on Westmount’s Instagram account? Do you create vlogs or webinars? Do you enjoy using your phone to take pictures and edit them? In this course, students will explore what new media is, its importance in our world, and have fun creating many different types of new media through the worlds of introductory journalism, photographic composition, video and audio production. Being able to work independently, write creatively and critically, and use technology responsibly are skills students will need for this course. A student-owned smartphone would also be an asset. Projects will include independent production and at times, we will be creating for our school community. 

Design and Development

Fee - $10/semester 

Enjoy creating visual designs? Want to learn how to program computers? In Design and Development, students begin exploring basics in graphic (2D) and 3D design, and coding. Intermediate level students explore more advanced challenges in 2D, and 3D design and learn how to use JavaScript and Python programming languages. Projects include creating a brand with associated merchandise and promotional products, including a website, and game or phone application.  Advanced students are expected to create a polished e-portfolio and working products specially designed for a purpose in the school community.

Band 8/9 - Full Year 

Instrument Rental ($15/month x 10 = $150)

Fee - $75/full year (Band supplies)

Travel! Perform! Learn to play an instrument! The band is where you want to be if you have a passion for music. Students will be traveling for an overnight band camp. In the spring, they will compete in a band festival. Throughout the year they will play with students from other local schools, have mentorship opportunities with students from The Comp and will be working with professional musicians to improve their skills. In class, students will advance their study of music in a band setting on one of the following instruments; flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bari saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba or percussion. 

Fees for camp and festival are additional costs that are determined in the fall and will depend on where the students are going. Fundraising opportunities will be provided to assist with additional costs. For no fee, students who take band will also have opportunities in extracurricular jazz combos.

If you have any questions about band, please reach out to our new band teacher, Breanne Jamieson (jamiesonb@fsd38.ab.ca).

Band 7 - Full Year

Instrument Rental ($15/month x 10 = $150)

Fee - $75/full year (Band supplies)

Travel! Perform! Learn to play an instrument! The band is where you want to be if you have a passion for music. Students will be traveling for an overnight band camp. In the spring, they will compete in a band festival. Throughout the year they will play with students from other local schools, have mentorship opportunities with students from The Comp and will be working with professional musicians to improve their skills. In class, students will advance their study of music in a band setting on one of the following instruments; flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bari saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba or percussion. 

Fees for camp and festival are additional costs that are determined in the fall and will depend on where the students are going. Fundraising opportunities will be provided to assist with additional costs. For no fee, students who take band will also have opportunities in extracurricular jazz combos.

If you have any questions about band, please reach out to our new band teacher, Breanne Jamieson (jamiesonb@fsd38.ab.ca).