The end of the 2016/'17 school year is marked by graduation ceremonies, school events and awards. Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks.
Late last month, a group of School District 43 educators were recognized as finalists in the Cmolik Prize for the Enhancement of Public Education in BC.
David Truss, John Sarte and Alan Soiseth were honoured by the Simon Fraser University Faculty of Education at a special event for their “Dream-Create-Learn: Inquiry Hub Secondary School’s Student-Powered Projects.”
The educational strategy was created at Inquiry Hub secondary School in Coquitlam to allow students to pursue personal interests with school support and for credit towards graduation.
The program for high school students promotes student-directed learning opportunities with up to 50% of a student's week available for their own learning initiatives.
Time is made available by using online resources so students can have more control over the pacing of their course work. This aligns with the changes in the BC Curriculum around personalization of learning, the teachers say.
TALK THAT MATTERS
At CABE secondary, meanwhile, students got a chance to share their personal opinions and feelings on all sorts of life subjects and challenges with adults who sat quietly and listened.
The YOLO (Youth Offering Learning Opportunities) was an opportunity for youth to connect with adults while planning their conversations with the help of facilitators from CABE and Share Family and Community Services.
AUTHOR, AUTHOR
Gifted middle school students across School District 43 got up close and personal with six authors on Wednesday, May 17, at Citadel middle school during the annual MACC Writers Conference of Interest.
Organized by Grade 6/7 teacher Cheryl Angst, an author herself, the conference was an opportunity to gain insight into writing, get techniques about starting a novel, learn about making a comic book from scratch and writing graphic novels.
"The students are really excited to participate," said Angst.
Among the authors were Eileen Cook, whose books have been optioned for film and television, C.C. Humphreys, a playwright, Denise Jaden, a young adult fiction writer, Tanya Kyi, who has written more than 20 books for middle grade and teen readers, Sean Patrick O'Reilly, a graphic novelist, and Tiffany Stone, a poet.
YOUNG CHAMPIONS
Boccia, the Paralympic version of bocci was introduced to students at Leigh elementary on Tuesday, April 25, who had fun throwing round bean bag-like boccia balls at a target.
Organized by SportAbility, the program made sure all children could take part, including one student who got to participate with the help of adaptive equipment, and will use the experience to study how the angle of the ramp he used impacts the motion of the ball.
