The Rural Voice, 1993-02, Page 28Unique Bruce County co-op program provides
Education that gets the
hands dirty
By Keith Roulston
There arc high school student
who spend hours each morning, not
to mention plenty of dollars, getting
to look just right before they go to
school each morning. These students
arc not part of one educational
program at Walkerton District
Sccondary School.
For more than half the school year
students of the Agriculture/Agri-
business co-operative cducation
program at the school have to be
prepared to get their hands dirty.
They're part of a unique education
program that allows students to get
practical experience in agriculture
and agribusiness, while still
continuing their schooling. Stewart
Brown, who runs the program, says
there is no doubt that there are
students in the program who would
not be in school at all otherwise.
The co-op program in agriculture
is unlike the normal co-op programs
that high schools in the region have
been instituting in recent years. It's a
stand-alone program, one
where the students
combine placements in
the industry with
classroom courses with
only Brown as their
instructor. The group
stays together the whole
school year.
Each student will have
three different work
placements during the
year. Soon after school
begins in September,
students begin their first
work placement. They'll
work four days a week,
all day at their job (as
opposed to a half-day
p
student,
Brown says,
liked his work
on a dairy farm
so much he spent
up to 13 hours a
day working
alongside the
farm's owner. The
employers get an
extra hand, free of
charge for six weeks.
They are asked to
provide orientation,
training, and hands-on education. The
students in return get 4.5 of their
eight credits for the year.
Come November 1, the students
return to the classroom where they'll
study until the spring when they'll go
back out for two more six-week work
placements. But even in the
classroom, the strong agricultural
element remains. Students take
environmental science, with the
emphasis on agriculture. They learn
Edenarms works
d grown °f Bilis r. WIt $e ondarl SchpOl
Fre Walkerton ikeSchnurr about
Fr.
stent M soils, air quality
co-op and waste management,
pests and pest control, plant and
animal pathology, applied genetics,
and agricultural crop and animal
science.
In their mathematics course for
business and consumers, students
learn about municipal taxation,
insurance, utilities and energy costs,
property ownership and mortgages,
stocks, bonds, annuities and savings,
budgeting, accounting and analysis of
financial statements,
provincial and federal
sales taxes, operating a
small business and paying
employees, buying and
selling foreign currency
and income tax for the
self-employed.
The English studied is
on the mass media,
including the study of
newspapers, magazines,
television and radio,
advertising, film and
popular music.
Students also learn how
to make job applications,
resumes and conduct job
interviews. They learn
about job safety, unions...
every other day for most Teacher Ste
co-op programs). One to right) Jas
wart Brown (centre standing) works with students (left
on Costain, Richard Brindley and Dan Bushell.
24 THE RURAL VOICE