As Horizon proved at its August board meeting, education does not stop within school walls.
Wilco Tymensen, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Horizon School Division, showcased the off-campus annual evaluation report for 2009/2010.
“We’ve seen 228 students that have partaken in off-campus experiences. That’s down by about eight students from last year,” said Tymensen. “But, the number of (credits) generated is up by 150. There are less students, but they are pursuing off-campus further. We also have a slight reduction in number of off-campus placements (144 to 110), that is proportionately due to the fact we have more students in one location.”
The report is based on school reports provided by ACE Place, Arden T. Litt, Colony Schools, Erle Rivers High School, Lomond School, Vauxhall High School, Warner School and W.R. Myers.
“It varies — it can be anything from students working at McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Boston Pizza all the way to the more industrial components. In the smaller communities, you got kids working on farms too, it’s all over the place depending on where a kid’s interests are — it fluctuates,” said Tymensen.
All schools utilized an employer-student evaluation form as the primary basis for student assessment. In some cases, monitoring student responsibilities included time sheets and daily duties/responsibilities forms. Some schools also included student self-evaluations and a qualitative assessment while others required students to submit a final report to reflect on job responsibilities, working relationships, growth and impressions.
There were 23 job shadows and a Take Our Kids to Work program initiated as well. Alberta Education did not require numbers this year for the junior high program, however, 82 forms were sent to schools for Take Our Kids to Work. Participating schools included Enchant, Hays, and Vauxhall.