Gardening Extracurricular

Extracurricular activities are a great way for staff members to teach their areas of passion outside of the school day, and for students to be a part of some life long learning opportunities. For many people, summer time fun equals gardening. Spending afternoons in the sun with their hands in the soil is a great way to connect with the earth. Months later, your efforts are pulled from the ground and end up on your dining room table. For Ray Olson, teacher at Woodward Academy, exposing students to the finer art of gardening is a life skill worth exploring

Thanks to a $2,000 grant received from Whole Foods grocery stores, the gardening extracurricular was able to have a plentiful harvest this fall. With the money, they purchased some great gardening equipment and fencing, with the rest allocated toward landscaping. In all, they planted 9 different vegetables and have been reaping the rewards for weeks. With a lifelong agricultural background, Olson hopes to extend this extracurricular beyond the fall harvest. He noted that during the winter, students could do some indoor planting and learn more about weed identification, fertilization, and soil testing. He will also be exploring the possibilities of additional grants next year.

World's Coach // Guthrey Fritz

Guthrey Fritz, Admissions Director and former Knights powerlifting coach, recently returned from Szczyrk, Poland, after a week of representing the United States team as a coach at the IPF Sub-Junior (high school) and Junior (collegiate) World Powerlifting Championships. The U.S. delegation brought four teams with 36 of the best lifters in the country to compete at the international competition.

Fritz’s history with elite powerlifting goes back more than a decade. He started the Woodward Academy powerlifting program 2003 and over the course of his tenure as head coach, won 10 consecutive USAPL High School National Championships, crowned 24 individual National Champions, and brought a total of 116 lifters to the national competition. The bookend of his coaching career at Woodward Academy occurred in the fall of 2015 when he travelled to this same competition in Prague, Czech Republic. He coached WA lifter, Julious Walker, to a runner-up World Championship.

After his experience with the team last season, U.S. Head Coach, Curt St. Romain, offered Guthrey a spot as a coach on this year’s team. He was assigned specific lifters and worked with them throughout the competition in getting checked in, setting rack heights, during weigh-ins, and calling squats for the lifters. At the end of competition, the U.S. team performed exceptionally well. The sub-junior boys were crowned World Champions, with the junior boys earning a bronze metal. Both the sub-junior and junior girls teams won silver.

Guthrey has already been asked to coach on next year’s team, with the 2017 international competition taking place in Orlando, Florida.

Fall Sports Posters // Football and Cross Country 2016

The fall sports posters for the 2016 season are out and can be picked up on campus. Both sports have begun competition and are getting a good early start to their seasons. Both posters showcase the team, with captains and key athletes playing a predominant role in the images. As always, the 2016 schedule is on there as well. If you have an opportunity to cheer on the Knights for some Friday, gridiron action, or on a golf course near you, I highly encourage you to do so. In the meantime, follow our Facebook page to get updates throughout the season.