Volleyball
We have a longstanding history of pride in our senior volleyball teams at Thorhild Central. Volleyball has been our flagship sport for many years and the program continues to develop quality athletes and quality people who understand how to work hard to improve skills, how to comfortably blend individual and team success, and how to handle themselves in victory and defeat. Students are expected to follow the Athletic Code of Conduct at TCS to remain in good standing with their extracurricular teams, which include keeping up attendance, schoolwork, and behaviour practices. The season runs from the start of the school year to the third weekend in November.
Junior high volleyball is Thorhild Central’s athletic program with the highest rate of participation. We would love to see that maintained if not increased in the years to come. Students will learn the basic skills and rules of the game, how to effectively operate as a member of a team, and how to deal with successes and failures in a competitive yet relaxed and fun filled environment. Our league play days are mini round robin draws about three times throughout the season at various schools in our division, with a competitive Regionals tournament at the end. As with all of our extracurricular activities, students are expected to make sure their effort is put into their curricular courses before they shift their focus to extra curricular commitments.
Basketball
Thorhild Central School currently runs a Senior High Boys Basketball program competing at the 1A level. Depending on interest, both Junior High Boys and Girls teams consistently run, while the Senior Program is in its first year.
Track & Field
Track and field day might just be the best day of the year (weather permitting). Students get to test their athletic ability against their peers or against their own personal best, cheer for their friends, and enjoy a day of physical activity and positive interaction. Our elementary and junior high track meets take place in Boyle at the end of May/start of June. The senior high track meet is at the Saville Center in Edmonton in May.
Cross Country Running
Thorhild Central’s cross country running program is looking for a boost in participation. Locally, we hold a Terry Fox event which encourages students to run a 5km route through the town of Thorhild. Our division and our athletic zone also hold their own respective cross country runs in May. This year they were both hosted in Athabasca on their Muskeg Creek trail system. Running is great for individual health and a great way to challenge and push oneself to improve.
Badminton
Badminton is one of the many school sports offered here at TCS. Our school runs both a Jr High and Sr High program where athletes have the chance to compete with other athletes across the division. On the Sr badminton team, athletes also have the opportunity to play at a competitive level by participating in ASAA Badminton events such as Conferences, Zones, and Provincials. The badminton season runs from February to the first week in May for Sr High students and from March to the last week in April for Jr High students. All Jr and Sr High students that are interested in playing badminton are welcome to come out and join the team.
Drama Program
Thorhild Central’s high school Drama program has been one of our school’s more successful programs over the last number of years. We have a strong performance focus in our high school Drama classes. Students will learn to build confidence in movement, speech, improvisation, and acting as well as grow their knowledge in script writing, directing, technical theater, and theater history. Depending on which semester the class falls in on a given year, we either aim to put on our own locally housed shows or prepare performance pieces for our Zone One Act Festival, affectionately known as DramaFest. The zone festival is a great opportunity to both perform and appreciate live theater put on by many schools across our zone. We have been fortunate enough to have advanced past our zone festival and on to the Provincial Festival two of the last three years. The zone festival is the second last weekend in April.
The junior high Drama program at TCS offers our grade 7-9 students a chance experience what our high school drama program is like but on a shorter timeline (one group of students takes the course for half a semester). They work on movement, speech, acting, and improvisation, with the bulk of the course being dedicated to script work with the intent of putting on a show at the end of the course. The last couple of year we have teamed up with the junior high Foods class to put on a dinner theater. The food is always great and the shows have been well received, not to mention being a ton of fun to put on.
Outdoor Education
Thorhild Central School offers both Junior High and Senior High Outdoor Education. In the Junior High Outdoor Ed option students develop outdoor survival skills as defined by the Adventure Smart Program developed to decrease Search and Rescue costs nation wide. Students have then been able to apply these skills on excursions to HeLa Ventures, the Palisades Centre, and Rock Jungle Fitness for opportunities to canoe, crosscountry ski, rock climb, rappel, hike, and more. In the Senior High Option, students work towards CTS credits in outdoor cooking, navigation and survival skills. Students then apply these skills towards certifications in First Aid CPR-C and their Avalanche Skills Training Level 1.