New Way Academy Press Releases

Students at New Way Academy in Scottsdale will hold their annual Walk/Bike-A-Thon Friday, February 18th, 2011. More than 200 students, family members, faculty and community supporters are expected to attend this year’s Hawaiian themed event.

110 students in grades 1-12 will participate in the event, to be held from 8:30 am to noon at a stretch of Eldorado Park near 77th St. and McDowell Rd. in Scottsdale.

Students will walk up to five miles, bike up to ten miles, or participate in the 2nd Annual 5K Bulldog Dash.

“Many students at New Way Academy have significant issues with motor skills,” shares Head of Upper School and Coach Mike Walker. This makes the event especially challenging—and rewarding. “Organizing this event is a challenge because we have to carefully match students’ needs and abilities with their goals.”

Students have collected pledges to assist their school in raising money for various types of playground and athletic equipment for student use. The 2010 Walk/Bike-A-Thon raised nearly $15,000 to benefit New Way’s programs.

Participants will return to campus for an all-school celebration featuring a catered lunch, music and a photo booth to capture memories from the day.

Established in 1968, New Way Academy is a non-profit, state-approved independent day school providing special education services to students with learning differences. Information is available online at www.newwayacademy.org.

To schedule an interview with New Way Academy students, parents or faculty, please contact Abbey Fief, Director of Advancement, at 480-946-9112, ext. 102.

For the first time in New Way's 42 year history, the Bulldogs stormed the field on Friday night for their first tackle football game of the season!

Over 150 fans came out to show their support of the Bulldogs as they faced off against Harvest Prep from Yuma, AZ. Although only one of New Way's 11 players had ever played in a tackle football game, the boys disproved any doubt that they could compete in this league.

The Bulldogs showed their jitters as they allowed an opening drive touchdown, then fumbling the first two times they touched the ball. Once the team settled down, it was a whole different ball game. After being down 13-0, the Bulldogs battled and battled coming up just short, 15-19. Junior Tyler Hubbard led the way rushing for 60 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the defense with 12 tackles. Freshman Mareion Jones rushed for 30 yards, scored on a conversion and had 9 tackles. Along with sophomore Josh Peterson, Jones was in on every play of the entire game. Seniors Michael Waxman and Trey Wahl and freshman Ben Heward made their presence felt with several quarterback hurries. Freshman Caleb Malolo contributed a safety as he made a key tackle in the end zone.

The team should be proud of their performance in the first game of the season. Please come out and show your support as New New Way faces off against Scholars Academy on September 10th.

Download the Press Release Here

A huge help for students with ADHD as well as low self esteem is participation in sports programs. Sports help them focus and carry confidence into the classroom. They also provide a great opportunity for teamwork and socialization.

This is especially true for the students at New Way Learning Academy, a K-12 school for students with learning differences that often include ADHD and dyslexia. All these kids have special talents but need to be taught in ways they learn best. Because they may not learn the same way as other students, sometimes they have been bullied.

Many of these children came from schools where they were not chosen at recess, let alone a competitive school team. Most of them lacked confidence, which led to their lack of desire to participate. Once they realized that New Way Learning Academy and its sports programs are comfortable learning environments, they tended to be attracted to the idea of playing sports. And this was all made possible because of a special teacher named Mike Walker. On top of his full time teaching position as a 6th grade teacher at the school, Mike has created a sports program for the school from scratch. He is a unique blend of academia and athleticism, having run track and cross country, and played football and basketball early in his childhood in California. He specialized in baseball which he played throughout high school as well as in college at Portland State University. He went on to be the Varsity baseball coach for Silver Creek High School in California.

All that playing and coaching experience has been a special gift to the students at New Way Learning Academy as he has been able to expose them to different sports and provide them the opportunity to compete. He has taken on the coaching responsibility for the past 5 years.

"The first year of competition was definitely a learning experience in many different areas," Coach Walker said.

"A lot of the kids had never been on an organized team, and most of them never watched or had much exposure to any of the sports. We had to work on team work, following directions, sportsmanship, and many other lessons that were completely new to them. Once the seasons started and they competed with other schools, they had to quickly figure out how to apply what they learned. Though it initially seemed overwhelming, the kids have realized that sports are fun and they CAN compete," he said.

Coach Walker has taken these kids to new heights. They have placed in tournaments and have won individual medals. This past spring, New Way Learning Academy students won six medals in the Scottsdale All-City Track Meet. Three Gold medals, all softball throws, went to: Mareion Jones, Elizabeth Henson, and Madi Molina. One Silver medal was awarded to Mareion Jones for the 100-Meter dash, and two Bronze medals were won by Taylor Tzineff for the 1600-Meter race and Benjamin Wolk for the 50-Meter race.

In the spring of 2009, New Way Learning Academy had a gold medalist long jumper, a silver medalist 4X400 relay team, and three bronze medalists in the City of Scottsdale Track Meet. Just recently, the 7th/8th grade flag football team finished the season in third place as they posted four wins, outscored their opponents 83-31, including four shutouts.

In 2007, the 4th and 5th grade football team finished with a 5-2 record as they represented New Way in the playoffs. In 2008, the 4th and 5th grade girls’ basketball team also finished 5-2 as they fell just short in the championship game.

Quite big accomplishments for these New Way Learning Academy students who are just becoming athletes, thanks to Coach Walker!

New Way Learning Academy, located in Scottsdale, has been serving children with learning differences in grades K-12 for 41 years. New Way is approved by the Arizona Department of Special Education to serve students with learning disabilities; it meets state mandated standards and guidelines. School enrollment is approximately 120 students with 40 staff members. The student to staff ratio is 6:1. We are the only private school in the state that provides such a specialized education for children with learning differences in grades K-12. New Way’s philosophy is that the school meets the needs of each student.