A new way to experience taekwondo

When it comes to after-school activities, there are a few options available to parents. The Whitecourt Taekwondo Club is looking to join that list by providing an opportunity that many communities want to do but can’t. “The challenges faced by parents, both those we’ve talked to at the club and ourselves as parents, is what do you do with your kids after school if you’re still at work? What happens when you get ready for school and realize your kids forgot to do their homework the night before? What happens when you get home from work, get supper made, and you still have to go back out to an activity, and everybody is tired? Everybody wants their kids to be in an activity, but it’s a lot of chauffeuring,” explained Master Jim Rennie.

He said that before COVID, they had come up with the idea to offer something for the after-school timeline, but COVID through a wrench into the plan, pushing it back a couple of years. “The After School Academy is where kids would come here after school. They will get an hour of taekwondo instruction and get all of their extracurricular activity done. They will have a snack break followed by tutor time, with someone involved in education as a tutor, so they can get help with their homework if they need it or finish it regardless.”

The biggest obstacle for Whitecourt Taekwondo putting on the program was getting children from school to the club, located across from Stitch’n Time, on the corner of Dahl Drive and 41 Ave. Thanks to a partnership with the Town of Whitecourt to snag a reasonable rate for program attendees, Rennie said they were able to move forward.

Children registered will hop on a transit bus from their school and be dropped off at the bus stop across Dahl Drive, where they will be met by teenage black belts hand-picked to take part in the program. The transit fee is included in the program. “Every day, they will cross Dahl Drive together with our supervisors. They will get a class taught by myself and with these other role models. I’ve hand-picked the people that will be involved in this program, and they are kids that I would love my own kids to be around as they are growing up. The way this all fell together was just perfect.”

In talking with instructors at city clubs, where these types of programs are run using transit, Rennie said they have waiting lists to join, and he hopes that type of interest happens in Whitecourt too. “This would not happen in any other community of ten thousand people because you wouldn’t be able to put it together without transit. I have another community desperate to do this program, but they can’t do it because they can’t find a way to get the kids to them. We are lucky.”

Rennie said he is excited to be able to offer the program and noted that several great things would come out of it. First is the mentorship older children will have on the younger children, helping build leaders. The second great thing is the level children will reach. “Within three years, I guarantee each of these kids will be a black belt. There are no added fees or anything for that. They will be a taekwondo student just like any other taekwondo student. It’s just included in the After School Academy.” Rennie said he’s never had the same kids five days a week before, which is why he knows children will excel quickly.

On the schooling side, Rennie said helping children get their homework done before they go home is a big part of it. He said that working closely with parents will make it even better. “The kids will be in an environment that will strongly influence them, and we will get to know their parents, and we will be on the same page as their parents. If there’s something they are not working hard enough on or are struggling with, then we want to be part of the solution.”

Rennie said that if a student were struggling with a specific subject, they could help with that. “If their teacher sends a note and says the child needs to work on multiplication, we will do that ourselves so that when they get home, they can focus on their family stuff, not their homework.”

So far, Rennie said they have about ten kids signed up, with thirty being the maximum allowed. The ages allowed are 5-12, and the cost is twenty dollars a day. To sign up, children will need to attend a tryout. “They have to come in for a trial class. It’s for us to screen them. It doesn’t matter if they are athletic, and it doesn’t matter what their marks are. We want kids with good attitudes because we want to take them from being already good kids to incredible kids.”

Rennie said the tryouts would help them select children that would gain the most from the program. “Kids that will learn to become champions no matter what they do. If there are children with discipline issues, we welcome them into our regular taekwondo classes, where we can work with multiple instructors. This class will be a really special class, so we are limiting it to kids who are curious and want to explore and will fall right into place with our strong work ethics and the regular taekwondo tenets. All the things you would do around grandma and grandpa, those are the things we will be doing here, being polite, having manners and being courteous.”

Providing a space for children while helping build them into future leaders is something that Rennie is very passionate about, and it matches the club’s motto, “learners today, leaders tomorrow.” The After School Academy will take place every school day starting in September, and no taekwondo experience is needed to join. Call or text 780-778-0202 or email jim.rennie@whitecourttaekwondo.com. Their website is www.whitecourttaekwondo.com, and they can also be found on Facebook.