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Students at F.H. Collins Secondary School will be benefitting from the knowledge of one of the territory's homegrown Olympic athletes this year.

In partnership with Sport Yukon, the Yukon government has launched a pilot project within the school geared toward students who are motivated to pursue both sport and academics.

Yukon weightlifter Jeane Lassen has been named physical literacy coordinator for the program.

The school of sport combines sport and academics to promote physical health and increased student success, Education Minister Elaine Taylor said in a press release that announced the program yesterday.

"It is an approach that has been shown to improve student attendance and enhance life skills development and can be a great help to students pursuing post-secondary scholarships,鈥� Taylor said.

The program is based on the Canadian Sport School model used in B.C. and emphasizes mastering fundamental movement skills and overall physical development in students.

The program is open to students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 whether they already consider themselves athletes or whether they are simply interested in enhancing their physical fitness.

Students will spend half of each day focusing on sport training and half on academics.

The program is structured to allow students to participate while still meeting requirements for mandatory academic courses.

The sport training curriculum will be supplemented with guest trainers and speakers on a variety of fitness and nutritional topics aimed at improving physical literacy, Sport Yukon executive director Tracey Bilsky told the Star today.

"It's been really good for the kids so far,鈥� she said. "It's really exciting.鈥�

F.H. Collins is hosting this program as a supplement to its normal curriculum.

The Education department is supporting the pilot by helping with program development and evaluation and contributing school physical education resources, equipment, supplies and costs for facility rentals.

The government has contributed approximately $75,000 to the program's start-up while Sport Yukon has chipped in an additional $15,000.

"We are excited about this new option for young athletes,鈥� Community Services Minister Brad Cathers said. "This pilot program will provide an opportunity for students to receive training that increases their endurance, strength and flexibility, which will allow them to perform even better in their chosen sports.鈥�

It was Lassen who proposed the idea to government officials in January, Bilsky noted.

A total of 23 students are enrolled in the new program.

"There have been many requests through the years for us to start some type of a school sport system,鈥� Bilsky said.

"We don't have the infrastructure for sport-specific systems like a hockey academy or figure skating academy, so this system really fits with Yukon.鈥�

Bilsky said every single sporting body in the territory was on board with the new pilot project.

"They see the value in their athletes becoming stronger, faster and more agile,鈥� she explained. "The students spend their time doing this in their sport school system ... and then they go off in their sport-specific setting. It really fits well.鈥�

As part of the overall program, Sport Yukon will make physical literacy awareness and education available to schools throughout Yukon.

Athletic development, attendance and academic progress will be monitored during the year to assess the program's value.