Calgary students who are looking to begin a career in the electrical trades have something to be excited about this fall.

EducationMatters is pleased to announce that RBC is expanding its commitment to creating meaningful work experience opportunities for students. This year, thanks to RBC’s support, dual-credit programming in the Calgary Board of Education will grow to include the electrical trades.

Dual-credit programming is an innovative approach to education which allows students to earn high school credit while completing industry certified work experience. The Dual-Credit Pre-Apprentice Electrician Program is two semesters in length and, after completing the program, students are eligible to write their first-period apprenticeship exams through Alberta Industry Training. Students will also earn a pre-apprenticeship electrician certification through the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

There has been a growing demand among high school students in Calgary to offer dual-credit programming in the electrical trades. However, for many students, the costs to get started in the skilled trades can be prohibitive. The need for training, tools, and protective equipment can prevent some students from beginning a meaningful and rewarding career.

RBC’s generosity will help cover the costs associated with pre-apprenticeship electrician training by ensuring that costs for tools, protective gear, textbooks, and instructors are not passed on to students who are unable to afford them. RBC’s support will also help to cover the costs of transportation, ensuring that students are able to safely get to the program’s training sites on a consistent basis.

“The program helps support students as they transition from school to their careers,” says Bradey Thompson, a specialist with the Calgary Board of Education. “They benefit from learning at SAIT’s world-class facilities, while receiving guidance from both high school teachers and trades instructors.”

Dual-credit programming offers a unique opportunity for students to begin their career while still completing high school. Graduates from the program are well-positioned to gain meaningful employment out of high school and are often hired in apprentice roles, which pay high wages and offer plenty of opportunities for growth.

RBC has been an EducationMatters partner since 2004 and we thank them for their continued commitment to success for Calgary students. This year’s support is helping students across our city develop their skills, gain meaningful employment, and draw connections between their education and their career.

The post RBC Helping to Build a New Generation of Electricians appeared first on EducationMatters.

“The pipe trades course saved my child from being a high school dropout,” says the mother of Dean, a grade 11 student in Calgary.

Dean’s elementary school teachers often described him as slow to learn, lazy, and unmotivated. He struggled with his learning and socially with his peers. By the time he was in grade three he was clearly behind the rest of his class.

Eventually, after a series of tests, the reason for Dean's struggles became clear. Dean was 90% deaf and needed surgery to repair his eardrums.

The surgery was a success and suddenly Dean was thrown into a world filled with sound.

Learning without hearing had been holding Dean back, but being surrounded by a noisy world was causing an entirely new set of problems.

The classroom continued to be a struggle. Dean would constantly complain to his mother. "School is too hard Mom. I can't do it."

Even with hours of support outside of the classroom, every school day was a challenge.

By grade nine, Dean was so stressed about school that he missed several days due to stomach aches, headaches, and pure exhaustion. Dropping out was beginning to look like a reality .

Everything changed in grade ten.

Through a friend, Dean discovered the pipe trades exploratory program. With funding from EducationMatters, students work with Local 496 to learn about trades in the pipe fitting industry.

After attending the orientation, Dean's excitement was obvious.

"I will never forget that day," says his mother. "He had stars in his eyes, a skip in his step and was ecstatic about his future."

Dean’s life changed. He showed up to pipe fitting training early each day and finished the program at the top of his class. He never missed a day.

He was offered an apprenticeship with a local company and began working part-time during high school towards his journeyman ticket.

He even began asking his teachers for additional help at school.

Dean will graduate with a high school diploma, many of the courses needed for his journeyman ticket, and over 1000 hours towards his apprenticeship.

The kid who was seen as lazy and unmotivated is now one of the hardest working students in his high school.

*Dean's name has been changed for privacy reasons

The post The Hardest Working Student in High School appeared first on EducationMatters.

A Holiday Greeting

As 2017 draws to a close, we want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday season.

It is easy to be thankful at this time of year and students in Calgary have more to be thankful for because of you. Your support over the past year has made incredible opportunities possible for students across our city.

You provided healthy meals at school for students who would otherwise go hungry. You helped to supply safety equipment so that students can begin meaningful career training in the skilled trades. And, you also helped to enrich arts programs with additional supplies, instruments, and materials for students who may not otherwise have access.

These are only a few examples of the ways you, and other EducationMatters supporters, helped to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed over the past year.

On behalf of the EducationMatters Board of Governors and staff, we are sharing our heartfelt thanks. We hope the holiday season provides you with an opportunity to celebrate and spend time with those who matter most to you.

As you know, the needs of public students in Calgary continue to evolve. We look forward to working with you in the New Year to continue to enrich the educational opportunities for students in the Calgary Board of Education.

Sincerely,

Marilyn Field
Executive Director
EducationMatters

Fuel for School: Tackling Hunger in the CBE

It’s 7:45 am and the smell of fresh pancakes, fruit, and syrup invites a group of elementary school students into the small kitchen off of the side of the gymnasium.
Buzzing with excitement, the students politely form a single file line and choose from the spread of breakfast options for the day.

While many of us enjoy a delicious breakfast before arriving at school or work, this is not the reality for everyone in our city. The EducationMatters team was recently invited to tour the Fuel for School program at a Calgary elementary school, to see one of the ways that student hunger is being tackled in the public education system.

The Fuel for School program provides healthy breakfasts to students who would otherwise go hungry each morning. The program runs at 20 elementary schools across Calgary, with each school serving between 20 to 60 meals on a daily basis.

As one breakfast program supervisor says, “The combination of free food and free smiles and love are a great way to start the day.”

The meals provide opportunities for positive interactions between staff and students, but also result in increased attendance and a greater awareness of healthy eating habits among students.

Most importantly, for some of Calgary’s most disadvantaged students, the Fuel for School program provides them with a healthy meal to start their day, which many would not have access to at home.

A nutritious breakfast improves the health and well-being of students, getting them ready to learn and better able to concentrate on school work. The Fuel for School program ensures that more students in Calgary, regardless of the conditions at home, have the basic energy they need to power their learning.

Judging by the smiles on the student’s faces, as they gather around bowls of cereal, bananas, and glasses of juice, the program is clearly a highlight of the day.

As the EducationMatters team prepares to leave, a line up for second helpings forms. However, this line is different; staying true to the polite atmosphere of the program, student’s line up to the side, ensuring that those who have not been served yet are able to enjoy their breakfast first.

You Are Enriching Students’ Educational Experiences: A Highlight of the Fall Grants Made Possible by Donors

The EducationMatters volunteer Grants Committee pored over applications from 53 schools, putting their heads together and making tough decisions to spread out just over $119,000 in available funds to 22 different projects.

These grants, made possible by you, are creating amazing opportunities for CBE students.

• Children at Colonel J. Fred Scott School will be working on a project entitled “Through the Eyes of Children: Homelessness Re-examined”. Funds will be used to purchase camera equipment and cover transportation costs – the community understanding, learning, and empathy-building that will emerge from this opportunity will be extraordinary for students.

• An Indigenous Artist-in-residence will join students at Catherine Nichols Gunn School. The artist will focus on reconciliation and enhance the schools’ efforts with the children to increase inter-cultural understanding and help them to be catalysts for social change.

• “View from the Inside” will take place at Forest Lawn High School where students, along with their teachers, will explore mental health and wellness through puppet making, photography, drama, music and dance.
Other projects will include: supporting a bouldering wall at the William Taylor Learning Centre; learning commons updates to transform educational spaces into flexible and innovative places; “Mathletics” will be integrated into the programming at Highwood School, and Discovering Choices students will cultivate resilience, leadership, connection, and compassion in the natural world.

These are just a few of the exciting programs which have received funding. Your generosity will have far-reaching effects as CBE students grow and build their love of learning. We can’t support this work without you – thank you!

Introducing: Amanda Field

Student success is made possible through the combined efforts of generous volunteers and donors. Amanda Field, a long time EducationMatters supporter, is both.

A lawyer by profession, after a stint in New York City, Amanda returned to her hometown of Calgary in 2012 and was looking for ways to reconnect with the community.

“My mother, who spent her career with the Calgary Board of Education, retiring as a high school Principal, suggested approaching EducationMatters about their volunteer needs,” she says.

As it would turn out, there was an opening for a community member to join the Student Awards Selection Committee, to help evaluate the applications for student scholarships that EducationMatters receives each year. Amanda jumped at the opportunity and has been a member of the team since.

“The cost of running programs and pursuing post-secondary education has become so high that they can be out of reach for many schools and students,” says Amanda. “I continue to support and be a part of EducationMatters to help ensure that all Calgary public students are given opportunities to be exposed to as many learnings and experiences as possible, and so that they have a chance to pursue their educational and career dreams, without a lack of funding standing in the way.”

After nearly five years as a generous student supporter, Amanda has recently joined the EducationMatters Board of Governors to help guide the direction of the organization.

“I firmly believe that students have the right to equal and excellent education, regardless of their socio-economic background. I also believe that public education unifies a diverse population and promotes tolerance and understanding of the society in which we live,” she says.

As a graduate of the Calgary Board of Education herself, Amanda knows that it is important to put the citizens of our community in a position to succeed.

“I’m confident that public education in Calgary is doing just that, which makes me optimistic and hopeful for the future.”

The post Holiday Newsletter 2017 appeared first on EducationMatters.

February 21, 2017

EducationMatters (EM), Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta (JASA) are partnering in a project that contributes to the transformation of public education in Alberta by creating new opportunities for students in nontraditional  career paths. Entrepreneurial Trades is a new financial literacy program for high school students in the Enhancing Career Pathways Project. The first pathway, Entrepreneurial Artist, was piloted in April 2014 and delivery in school started September 2014.

The second pathway, Entrepreneurial Trades, is being developed for students in the trades sector. This program will focus on trades encompassed in home building and residential and commercial construction including: concrete; wood trades; lather; interior systems; insulator; glazier; roofer; electrical; plumbers and pipefitters; finishing work; fabrications; sprinkler fitting and landscaping.

Over the last 10 years in Alberta, employment in the trades (total number of employees and self-employed individuals) increased from 146,200 (2003) to 231,300 (2013) a 58.2% increase. [Industry Profile - Construction, Government of Alberta, 2012]. JASA and CBE are working with consultants and curriculum experts to modify Junior Achievement's (JA) Company Program for delivery to trades pathways students. Program modifications add industry and relevant elements that have alignment with the Alberta Education curriculum.

Once programs are developed and modified, a pilot will be conducted in two CBE high schools. Following successful pilot delivery and further modifications resulting from the pilot, the program will be made available to all interested schools

We would like to thank the RBC Foundation for their continued support of this program.

The post RBC Continues Support for Entrepreneurial Trades Program appeared first on EducationMatters.