William Aberhart High School

William Aberhart High School is a public senior high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which teaches grades 10, 11, and 12. It is operated by the Calgary Board of Education. It is a comprehensive English and French Immersion school of 1500 students.^[2] William Aberhart High School is located at 3009 Morley Trail NW. The school contains 54 classrooms, two gymnasia, a fitness centre, a multi-media library resource centre, and specialized areas for music, drama, and art.^[3] It also plays host to a debate union. Other school activities and clubs include the largest high school Model United Nations team in Calgary; the most frequently published school newspaper in Southern Alberta, The Advocate; an independent students' media magazine, The Iconographer; an environmentally active organization, Destination Conservation; the Student Outreach Society, a peer support group; a bilingual club, Immersion en Action; and many others.

Until 2005, the east side of the third floor was populated by the National Sports School of Canada. They have since moved south to Ernest Manning High School.

Curriculum

William Aberhart High School offers a French Immersion program.^[2]

Special programs

Several special programs offered by William Aberhart High School include:

• Access and ALP4 programs - The Access program programs provides students with a wide range of learning experiences. Students learn life skills and take part in many activities both in and out of the school. The ALP4 program is an academic program for students with special needs. Students integrate into classes, and are also involved in community work experience with the VRRI.
• Advanced Placement (AP) Education - William Aberhart High School is one of the few schools in the Calgary area which offers Advanced Placement classes for talented students. These include AP Biology, AP Calculus (self-paced), AP Chemistry, AP Comparative Government & Politics, AP English Literature & Composition, AP French Language, AP Physics (self-paced), AP Fine Arts, and many other programs.

The school is part of the Action for Bright Children Society.^[4]

Fine Arts Program

The fine arts program at William Aberhart High School consists of several groups:

• The Concert Choir (which consists of full-time choir students and after-school participants);
• The Jazz Choir (full- and part-time choir students, through a competitive process);
• The Concert Band (composed of Grade 10 students);
• The Symphonic Band (consisting of grade 11 and 12's)
• The Jazz Band (open class - grades 10 through 12);
• The Wind Ensemble (an advanced concert band, which plays Grade 4+ band music);
• Musical Theater (an elective, one semester course in which the students perform a musical at the end of the term)

All of the school's ensembles and bands frequently achieve superior ratings at the Kiwanis Music Festival. Aberhart's symphonic band is one of both Calgary and Alberta's top ranking high school ensembles.

The Concert Choir and Symphonic Band both travel, at both a national and international level, competing and performing at a variety of venues, as well as taking in local music, such as excursions to the Berlin Philharmonic, amongst others.

The school's music program has yielded several promising young musicians, including Mark Ahenda who premiered his own composition, Miserere Nobis, at the 2010 final concert.

Extracurricular activities and clubs

Clubs

Debate Union

William Aberhart High School has the largest youth debate union in western Canada. The debate team has been highly successful, winning many competitions in Calgary, Alberta and Canada as a whole. Students from Aberhart's debate union have been selected many times to not only represent Aberhart, but also Alberta at the national level. On an international level, Aberhart has placed in the top five in events such as the European Schools Debating Championships, North American / Oxford Cup Debate Championships, Oxford Union Schools Debating Competition, International Independent Schools Public Speaking Championships, World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships, Pan American Debate Championships, and the World Schools Debating Championships.

Social Amnesty

A student run club that makes its focus on raising awareness in humanitarianism. The club is composed of a group of compassionate students desiring to make a difference in world crisis and injustice. So far the club has run campaigns on clean water, human rights in Burma, and homeless shelter relief during the 2007-2008 school year. Social Amnesty also organized and hosted a "Darfur week" in the 2008-2009 school year.

The Advocate

Aberhart's school paper that publishes bi-weekly throughout the school year. The paper mainly covers athletics, student opinions, and school events. The Advocate is the most published student newspaper in western Canada.

The Iconographer

The Advocate was Aberhart's school arts and literature magazine which was published exclusively by students on a regular basis. It featured mainly poems and photography, but also included short stories, among other things. Its publication schedule depended entirely on how many submissions they received from the student body at the school.

The Advocate was followed by "The Issue" (edited by Wendy Smith), and became focussed on education reform. Many of the people involved were part of E.Y.E. (Educational Youth Enterprises), a city-wide movement to improve education practices and promote "Free Schools".

Athletics

Notable alumni

• Mitch Andreou - father of the JAVA Programming Language - Order of Canada Recipient^[5]
• Brendan Durant - actor at The Second City Theatre Toronto, head writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
• Ben Petersen - comics artist and creator of the series Spawn.^[6][7]
• David Winning - Film and television director known for his work in science fiction and thrillers.

See also

• William Aberhart
• Calgary Board of Education

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Aberhart High School.

• Official website