A chess course that has been credited with helping a Terry Fox student heal from a traumatic heart incident and a hands-on course to help teens learn about bicycle maintenance and repair have been approved by the School District 43 board of education.
Starting in September, Terry Fox secondary school will offer Chess 11 in addition to Chess 12, which is already available, while Riverside secondary will offer Bicycle Maintenance and Repair 11.
The two courses conform to Ministry of Education requirements for school board-authorized courses.
In Chess 11, students will learn the history and origins of chess, algebraic notation for recording chess games, learn chess pieces and basic moves as well as the principles of chess. Students will also participate in chess games and tournaments to demonstrate their knowledge.
The course approval follows a story in The Tri-City News earlier this year when Fox student Aaron Gi described how the chess courses taught by Dejan Radic helped him recover from an incident in which his heart stopped during PE class.
Meanwhile, the bicycle maintenance and repair course aims to teach the fundamentals of fixing and looking after a bike, using donated bikes that will be rehabilitated and then given to KidSport Tri-Cities for sale. Students will also volunteer their time at the KidSport sale and teach bicycle safety to students at Central elementary school.
The course is modelled after a pilot program introduced at Riverside with the support of Cap's Westwood Cycle and head mechanic Ryan Gardiner and Chris Eastman, with the city of Port Coquitlam.
Students will also learn bike safety, including how to navigate the local transit system, the law and bicycle advocacy, and will participate in supervised rides in the community. If time permits, the students will also build custom frames that can be sold, adding an entrepreneurial component to the course.
