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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006. PAGE 33.
St. Anne's ag program chosen for pilot project
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
While students were enjoying a
summer outside classes,
administrators of an innovative co-
operative education program run by
the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board were hunkered down
at their desks, "writing and re-
writing" the program so it could be
transformed into what the provincial
education ministry hopes will
become a better way for leading
young people into careers in
agriculture.
At a regular meeting Monday,
Aug. 28, Huron-Perth trustees
learned the agriculture-based "pre-
apprentice program" at St. Anne's
Catholic Secondary School in
Clinton — which had been developed
in partnership with Fanshawe
College in London — had been
chosen as a model for one of 27 pilot
projects for the province's new
Specialist High-Skills Major.
The SHSM was part of an
announcement in December, 2005,
aimed at broadening the types of
training activities which could be
used towards the achievement of an
Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
"It recognizes that, for students
who might be proceeding into the
world of work, some of the best
strategies for setting them on their
way will be by allowing them to try
out different career paths," explained
Huron-Perth education
superintendent Dan Parr, in the
preamble to his report about the St.
Anne's program.
Not too long after that
announcement — in March, 2006 —
the awarding of a Rural High
Schools Lighthouse grant showed
the Education ministry had become
aware of the relatively new pre,-
apprentice program at Huron-Perth
Catholic's two secondary schools,
which the board's Ontario Youth
Apprenticeship Program director
Tim Martens dubbed Direct Connect
Your Future.
The program offered career-
specific, on-site training through
partnerships with various area
employers, as well as preferred entry
into Fanshawe's technology
departments.
According to Parr's report, "The
Ministry has since asked our board
to continue to develop this
innovative program into a provincial
pilot. It is their intent, and ours, that
we will be able to provide an
operating, successful example of
SHSM in the area of Agricultural
Technology."
"We're learning, slowly, that
individual courses aren't really what
students and parents are looking for
as a way to prepare themselves.
They ' don't offer enough of a
glimpse of the future," Parr said in a
subsequent interview. "But if it's
something that's wrapped around an
ongoing program that leads into
post-secondary activities, then it's
something they can grab hold
of."
Parr provided a breakdown of
requirements for all students hoping
to earn the new agriculture-based
SHSM high school diploma.
Students will need a similar number
of credits as any other successful
graduate, with the first two years of
their studies looking quite similar to
their counterparts. But there are
required- credits in nine areas of
study over the final two years of high
school.
Required credits include
transportation technology and
agricultural technology, as well as
English and Math. And some
participation in co-operative
education (workplace study) is
required.
Parr's report included a long list of
possible career or post-secondary
education paths which might be
open for graduates of the
agriculture-based SHSM program.
They include such things as
apprenticeships on farms or
machinery dealerships, studies in
commerce or engineering, or work
in various fields related to
agriculture.
"It's very exciting for all the
communities in Huron County, in
that the agricultural support sector of
our economy is alive and well," Parr
commented. Major employer
partners in the program include
Huron Tractor and Vincent Farm
Equipment, among others.
Disruptions should be minimal at HPCDSB schools
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Students at St. Aloysius
elementary school in Stratford won't
have access to their gymnasium or
newly-renovated library for the first
few days of September, but no major
disruptions are expected in any other
facility as a new school year begins
for the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board.
The closest it gets is an altered
entranceway at St. Michael
secondary school in Stratford. That
has been temporarily moved to make
way for the planned addition of
instructional space for the science
and technical education
departments. But that work isn't
expected to.start until the fall, and it
isn't expected to disrupt ongoing
operations.
Trustees were provided with
updates on various construction
projects at the board's first regular
meeting of 2006-07, on Monday,
Aug. 28 in Dublin.
Over the few months, the
extensive renovations at St. Aloysius
have been a major focus, and
management superintendent Gerry
Thuss informed trustees "it will be
available for students Tuesday
morning."
He admitted, however, that
completion of the project "has been
tight," and that the library and gym
are currently occupied by furniture,
equipment and materials which must
still be moved to other parts of the
school.
Several other schools, meanwhile,
are preparing to welcome versions of
the federally-funded Best Start
childcare initiative. In most
communities, a number of students
who already attend kindergarten
part-time within the town — either in
the public or Catholic system — will
now attend regulated childcare
within or adjacent to existing
schools for the rest of the time.
The Huron-Perth board will host
Best Start programs at St. Mary's
elementary school in Goderich, St.
Joseph's elementary school in
Clinton, St. Mary's elementary
school in Listowel, and St. Aloysius
in Stratford. All are housed in
previously-existing space within the
schools. Funding has been provided
for upgrades at each site, particularly
for separate playgrounds and for
bringing kitchen and washroom
facilities in line with childcare
legislation.
In Wingham, Thuss explained, a
tendering process will probably
begin in September for construction
of a Best Start space attached to
Sacred Heart elementary school. The
board aims to have the project
complete by February, 2007.
In St. Marys, all Best Start money
went to a program at the Avon
Maitland District School Board's
Central elementary school. But the
Catholic board struck a deal with the
municipal daycare provider which
will administer that program, and
together they'll offer a similar
service although not with Best
Start funding — at Holy Name
elementary school.
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