Students in Rocky View Schools (RVS) are learning the tricks of the trade – quite literally – thanks to the public school division’s newest dual-credit program.
Greg Rankin, the principal of RVS’ Community Learning Centre (CLC) said the division has partnerships with three nearby post-secondary institutions – Olds College, SAIT, and the University of Calgary – to offer instruction in fields the students wouldn't receive in a typical classroom.
“There are some really cool opportunities for kids to be prepared for that next step,” he said.
Dual-credit programs allow students to gain experience in a particular field, while at the same time accruing both high-school and post-secondary course credits.
Rankin said there are many benefits to offering such programs to high-schoolers.
“Every kid is different, and every kid needs to be exposed to different educational experiences,” he said. “Everyone has strengths and we want to set kids up to be great at something. Sometimes that is in a really academic, university-bound stream, sometimes that’s in a college program-bound stream, sometimes that’s in a trades program-bound stream.”
RVS’ dual-credit programs at SAIT include courses in business management, infection prevention and control, anatomy and physiology, and medical terminology. The Olds College partnership include courses in veterinary practice, agriculture equipment, applied ecology, horticulture, hospitality and tourism, and sports management.
And at the University of Calgary, RVS students can participate in a psychology dual-credit program.
“We really want to be thinking about post-secondary options because that’s where education is hopefully going to lead kids to a place where they’re professionally successful, in a job that is meaningful both to them personally but also has an impact on our community and province,” Rankin said.
“We know if kids are educated and trained, they’re going to do great things in the future.”
A new dual-credit program RVS is offering students in Grade 10 this school year is a welding course provided through Olds College. Differing from RVS’ other more individually focused dual-credit programs, Rankin said for the welding program, a bus transports groups of Grade 10 students from Airdrie and Cochrane to Olds College and back.
“At Olds College, they get to be a part of that college life,” he said. “They get to go to the cafeteria, walk around, see the sights and sounds a college kid would.”
While an RVS teacher supervises the class, Rankin said the students actually receive instruction from an Olds College welding instructor.
“Typically, they’d be a journeyperson of some kind and they have their ticket,” he said. “They’re going to teach the kids everything a first-year college student would be learning.”
According to Rankin, the reason for offering the course to Grade 10 students is because the school division can then tailor the rest of that student’s high-school career to make sure they’re taking the right courses to enter a career in the trades upon graduation.
“Now we’re able to program the rest of their high school and get them in the right courses to get into that career, and hopefully get them into a registered apprentice program in their Grade 11 or 12 year,” he said. “They can actually be earning their blue book hours, so getting a trade while they’re in high school.”
For more information on RVS' dual-credit programs, visit rvsclc.rockyview.ab.ca/programs/dual-credit
