Students, teachers, parents and others involved in education in Powell River gathered together Thursday, October 18, in the Great Hall at Brooks Secondary School to talk about what the community expects of recent graduates. They were participating in a province-wide consultation process initiated by the ministry of education to develop and improve graduation requirements for BC schools.
Among the many goals of the process is to increase the number of skills for graduating students and offer them more opportunities to learn trades and careers relevant to their community. This is something that Jeanette Scott, chair of Powell River Board of Education, said she thinks School District 47 is taking a lead on.
Scott welcomed the group of almost three dozen participants. She said she was pleased to see the conversation about education getting broader and more in the community.
“A few years ago, we had a similar discussion called Vision 2030,” she said. The main theme that emerged from that discussion was “the need for education to focus on a learner’s individual physical, mental and emotional needs.”
Scott reminded participants that the district offers a number of programs like outdoor programs at Kelly Creek Community, Texada Elementary, James Thomson Elementary and Brooks schools that help develop socially responsible citizens.
Greg Johnson, School District 72 principal for aboriginal education and alternative programs in Campbell River, was selected by the ministry to host this first round of discussions on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. He opened the Powell River forum by talking about the current system and requirements students have to graduate. Participants then moved into breakout groups to discuss and answer feedback questions. Recorders at each table wrote down what each participant said.
Rod Perrault, vice-principal of Brooks, said that while there may have been only 32 people at the evening session, the school district would conduct its own feedback session for district teachers the following week.
By spring of 2013, the ministry plans to publish the public feedback from the province-wide consultations and other sources in a white paper called Proposed Directions for Graduation. This document will serve as a starting point for a second round of more detailed discussions about graduation requirements planned next year. After the second round of forums, the ministry will take the recommendations and turn them into graduation requirements.
